DORI MONSON

Mother files complaint against Metro, says driver asked her and crying toddler to leave bus

Sep 19, 2014, 2:12 PM | Updated: 2:15 pm

An upset mother says a driver asked her to leave the bus in the middle of downtown Seattle because ...

An upset mother says a driver asked her to leave the bus in the middle of downtown Seattle because her 2-year-old was giving him a headache. (MyNorthwest.com/Riley Elliott)

(MyNorthwest.com/Riley Elliott)

An upset mother has filed a complaint after she says she was asked to leave a Metro bus because her 2-year-old’s tantrum was giving the driver a headache.

Jennifer Younes tells KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson the incident happened Tuesday in downtown Seattle. She explains they woke the child up to fold up her stroller just before boarding the bus. A little upset, the 2-year-old began to cry, and then Younes admits it did escalate to a tantrum.

“She was kicking me a little bit. She was getting a little upset. She was crying very loudly,” says Younes, who was trying to calm her daughter. “The entire time, I held her on my lap. I was talking into her ear and doing exactly what I do at home when she’s having a temper tantrum, which is asking her to take deep breaths, asking her to tell mommy with her big girl words what it is that she needed.”

Monson says he can identify, raising three children.

“I remember it well. Sometimes when they go off, there’s no getting them talked off the ledge.”

Younes says she can’t remember the exact wording, but at some point the driver essentially asked how long the tantrum was going to last.

“I said, ‘I’m sorry sir I have no idea, it’s a tantrum. I’m trying to calm her down though,'” says Younes. “He proceeded to tell me that he had a headache because of it and that it was unsafe for him to drive.”

Trying to negotiate with both her 2-year-old and the driver, Younes says she started getting stressed out.

“At that point I said, ‘I don’t know what you want me to do. She’s having a tantrum.’ And that’s when he said he didn’t want to drive until we got off the bus or she stopped crying.”

Not really wanting the situation to escalate any further or to be, “even more humiliated,” according to Younes, she decided to get off the bus. Upon exiting, she asked for the driver’s name.

“He said he wasn’t going to give me his name, he wasn’t obligated to. So I got off the bus, and called my husband and cried. I mean what else do you do as a mother who’s embarrassed in public?” says Younes, joking, “apparently my daughter takes after me.”

Younes acknowledges the driver didn’t demand she get off the bus or physically push her out or anything, but she doesn’t agree with the way he handled the whole thing.

“I mean you’re driving a city bus. I’m sure there are a lot of other distractions and I just didn’t feel like he had done what he should have done in order to handle the situation the most appropriately.”

Younes has filed a complaint with Metro and asked that the agency give her a call back once they determine how they will resolve the issue. She hasn’t heard back, but Metro issued a statement to KOMO:

“This sounds like it was a difficult situation for everyone involved. We talked to the operator today and his version of events differs from the complainant’s. We’re working to understand what happened. Bus operators have the ability to stop their bus and ask for assistance from a supervisor when there is a disruption on the bus, which is what the operator said happened in this case. Operators also have the discretion to request passengers leave if there is yelling or other disruptions, but cannot demand they leave. We’re hoping the woman in this incident contacts our customer service offices so we can understand what happened from her perspective.”

Younes says she hasn’t heard how her story differs from the driver’s account, but she hopes to hear back from Metro and hopes someone talks to the driver about his intolerance to children having tantrums.

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