A bus driver runs out of gas in the middle of the trip, the company fires him and the courts rule that he is entitled to a fair trial
The driver had been warned that the company's fuel supplier was not working, so he had to refuel at a gas station.
The High Court of Justice of the Basque region of Spain has upheld the dismissal of a bus driver who ran out of fuel during a scheduled route, leaving passengers stranded and forcing the company to deploy emergency vehicles, according to legal news outlet ElDerecho.
The troubled 10-mile bus journey
The incident occurred on December 3, 2023, during a service between the towns of Zumaia and Elgoibar. The day before, the company had warned the driver that the company’s usual fuel provider was out of service and instructed him to fill the tank at a gas station instead.
Despite this, the driver began his shift with the fuel gauge already on reserve and not enough diesel to complete the 9.6-mile (15.5 km) journey. He ignored the warning and set off anyway, only to come to a stop halfway through the route when the bus ran dry.
The breakdown forced the transport company to hire two replacement vehicles to complete the journey for the affected passengers. Additionally, a taxi had to be dispatched to take the driver to refuel, and the bus later required its fuel tank to be purged as it wouldn’t restart after being refilled.
This passenger documented his unnecessarily long journey.
Bus driver responsibility
A lower court in the city of San Sebastián had already ruled the dismissal was justified, citing the “inadmissible” nature of the driver’s actions, which had negatively impacted both the passengers and the transport company.
The driver appealed to the High Court, claiming the punishment was excessive. However, the court sided with the company, finding that the events fell under Article 28 of the collective bargaining agreement for road passenger transport in the region of Gipuzkoa, which covers very serious misconduct. The judges concluded that the sanction was not disproportionate given the severity of the offense.
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