The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) pledged early this year that it was a new day in Washington, D.C. The transit agency pledged that the metro system would put safety and customer service first. D.C. commuters were largely skeptical that much would change besides rhetoric. Now WMATA finds itself in court, suing for the right to fire a mechanic involved in a January 2015 incident where a woman died after a train car filled with smoke.
In July, the Amalgamated Transit Union sued WMATA for wrongful termination on behalf of Seyoum Haile, a mechanic, arguing that Haile should instead receive a suspension without pay, as an earlier arbitrator had decided. Now, in paperwork filed with the U.S. District Court on Friday, WMATA is countersuing, arguing that the union’s lawsuit should be dismissed.
