Europe 1 with AFP 8:31 p.m., November 29, 2022
A school bus driver in Haute-Vienne was dismissed for serious misconduct by his employer because he used to drop off schoolchildren in front of their homes for safety reasons.
The company accuses him of having practiced so-called "wild" stops, different from those planned on his route.
A school bus driver in Haute-Vienne, who used to drop off schoolchildren in front of their homes for security reasons, was dismissed for serious misconduct by his employer, we learned from those concerned.
As the regional daily
Le Populaire du Center
revealed , the company Europ Voyages, the new holder of the public contract in the Billanges sector, a town of 300 inhabitants, accuses him of having made so-called "wild" stops, different from those planned on its route, in this rural area.
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The employer also calls into question the behavior of the employee to explain his decision.
"When I asked him not to bring the children home anymore, he insulted me. He did not respect the relationship of subordination", affirms Maxime Trossat, manager of the company.
But for the driver as for the parents concerned, it was a question of the safety of the children who would have had, otherwise, to walk on the edge of roads considered dangerous, in particular at night.
Practices "tolerated in the past"
"It was inconceivable to let the children take risks," explained to an AFP correspondent the ex-driver, who has been in business for 17 years according to the regional daily Le Populaire du Centre, which revealed the case.
"It did not make me change my route. These practices were tolerated in the past", adds the one who wants to seize the prud'hommes.
"My daughter, a 12-year-old schoolgirl, had to walk 650 meters in the dark on a municipal road, without sidewalks or markings on the ground. She had to walk in the ditches to get home", testified Christelle Nozière, a resident of Billanges who plans to file a complaint for endangering the lives of others.
"We could entrust him (to the driver, editor's note) with the children with his eyes closed. To fire someone for that, it revolts me".