District appeals decision to reinstate bus driver after DUI
The driver was arrested while off duty over a holiday weekend in 2011, and he was suspended and then fired after telling his supervisor of the incident. This May, the driver was granted his job back after an arbiter found that the district was “too harsh” when firing him, but district officials are hoping to overturn that decision.
EASTON, Pa. — The local school district is appealing a decision to reinstate a school bus driver who was terminated after he was caught driving drunk while off duty, The Morning Call reports.
Over a holiday weekend in 2011, bus driver John Trusz was charged with drunken driving in the county where he lives. Upon returning to work at Easton Area School District after the holiday, Trusz told his supervisor of his arrest. He was suspended without pay, and he was fired by the school board last fall. In May of this year, Trusz’s job was reinstated after arbiter Harvey Young found that the school district was "too harsh" when firing Trusz.
According to The Morning Call, the district is now hoping to overturn that decision. In a lawsuit filed in early June, the district asked a judge to vacate Trusz's award, saying that the arbiter “improperly strayed into public policy decisions that involved the school officials' ability to keep their students safe.”
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