A new campaign begins against me

And so it begins-THE HARASSMENT OF A TRIMET BUS DRIVER/BLOGGER

HR COMPLAINT DISMISSED-MR WALLACE FIXATION CONTINUES

WHY?

The board does nothing and where are my civil rights?

TRIMET MANAGMENT RETLIATES AGAINST ME WHILE I AM ENGAGING IN LEGALLY SANCTIONTIONED BEHAVIOR

TRIMET RETALIATION POLICY

Retaliation Policy
It is a violation of state and federal law, as well as TriMet policy, to retaliate against employees or
customers who have filed a complaint of discrimination, participated in an investigation of unlawful
discrimination, declared misuse of public funds, or engaged in other legally sanctioned, appropriate
behavior.

I AM ENGAGING IN THE FOLLOWING LEGALLY SANCTIONED BEHAVIOR BUT TRIMET MANAGEMENT IS RETALIATING AGAINST ME FOR ENGAGING IN IT

 165.540¹

Obtaining contents of communications

(1) Except as otherwise provided in ORS 133.724 (Order for interception of communications) or 133.726 (Interception of oral communication without order) or subsections (2) to (7) of this section, a person may not:

(a) Obtain or attempt to obtain the whole or any part of a telecommunication or a radio communication to which the person is not a participant, by means of any device, contrivance, machine or apparatus, whether electrical, mechanical, manual or otherwise, unless consent is given by at least one participant.

(7) The prohibitions in subsection (1)(a), (c), (d) and (e) of this section do not apply to any:

Person who intercepts a radio communication that is transmitted by any governmental, law enforcement, civil defense or public safety communications system, including police and fire, readily accessible to the general public provided that the interception is not for purposes of illegal activity.

POSTS ARE NOT NECESSARILY IN CHRONOLOGY

Trimet, supposedly one of the leading transit agencies in the USA, has been intruding on my private life by attempting to regulate my behavior off the job. This is being done by applying questionable HR rules to prohibit my disclosing information that damages the reputation of the agency. They pretend to be concerned about the welfare of its employees, the opposite is true. This company has been engaging in a war against it employees since Neil Macfarlane has taken over as its General Manager. There has never been as much dissatisfaction coming from employees in the 14 years I have worked here.
This is my story for my rights as a private citizen of the State of Oregon.

I FILE MY OWN HR COMPLAINT

Lucy-

I am filing this complaint because I believe I am the target of coordinated harassment on the part of Trimet management who asserts that they have the right to regulate my off duty behavior.

The behavior in question is my recording over the air dispatch communications, a perfectly legal endeavor.
HR 171  prohibits harassment when one is engaging in "lawfully sanctioned behavior". The management is clearly in violation of  this.

They also are ignoring HR 202 which regulates internet posting. The behavior in question is about an internet posting. They have chosen to ignore the scope of the policy which clearly demonstrates a conscious and willful attempt to intimidate me from engaging in a lawfully sanctioned activity.

I hereby charge Trimet management with a willful conspiracy to harass and intimidate me using the threat of termination in an effort to prohibit me from a lawfully sanctioned activity that any citizen of Oregon can perform.

Al Margulies

Department Job title: MINI OPERATOR

Immediate supervisor; ROBERT ROMO

2. Check (✔) the box that indicates why you feel you have received unfair treatment:

è other

3. Name and position title of person (s) involved: ROBERT ROMO ACTING AS AGENT FOR TRIMET MANAGMENT

Name Position Title; STATION MANAGER

4. Briefly explain the harassment or discrimination that you believe occurred. Clearly

explain who did what, when the action occurred, and why you believe the action occurred.

Attach an extra sheet if needed.

---------------------------------------------------

ON FEB 10, 2011 I WAS GIVEN WRITTEN WARNING THAT I WAS IN VIOLATION OF HR RULE 171.

THIS WAS A RESULT OF MY LEGAL RECORDING AND POSTING OF A COMMUNICATION BETWEEN A TRIMET DISPATCHER AND A TRIMET OPERATOR.

TRIMET HR 171 STATES AS FOLLOWS:

It is a violation of state and federal law, as well as TriMet policy, to retaliate against employees or customers who have filed a complaint of discrimination, participated in an investigation of unlawful

discrimination, declared misuse of public funds, or engaged in other legally sanctioned, appropriate behavior.

I WAS ENGAGED IN A LEGALLY SANCTIONED BEHAVIOR, NAMELY LISTEING TO OVER THE AIRWAVE COMMUNICATIONS AND UTILIZING MY FREEDOM OF SPEECH RIGHTS TO DISSEMINATE THIS INFORMATION.

TRIMET MANAGEMENT HAS FULLY VIOLATED THE TERMS OF HR 171 FOR RETALIATING AGAINST ME WHILE ENGAGING IS A LEGALLY SANCTIONED ACTIVITY.

FUTHERMORE TRIMET MANAGEMENT IS IN VIOLATION OF HR 202 WHICH STATES:

The principles outlined in this policy provide standards for Internet use, communications, and

postings that utilize TriMet equipment or access to the Internet, and apply to all TriMet employees

whether they are on or off duty.

MY DISCIPLINARY LETTER WAS CONCERNING INTERNET POSTINGS.  I WAS NOT ON DUTY AT THE TIME OF THE POSTING, WAS NOT USING TRIMET EQUIPMENT AT THE TIME OF THE POSTING, AND WAS NOT USING TRIMET ACCESS TO THE INTERNET AT THE TIME OF THE POSTING. THE SCOPE OF THE RULES REGARDING INTERNET POSTINGS IS NOT REFERRED TO AT ALL WHICH IS A BLATANT ATTEMPT TO IGNORE FACTS RELEVANT TO THIS CASE!

----------------------------------------

TriMet Complaint Procedure for Prohibited Harassment �� Discrimination.4 19 January 2007

5. List any witnesses; JEFF ACKERSON

6. Date(s) the harassment or discrimination took place: FEBUARY 10, 2011

7. What action(s), if any, have you taken to address or resolve this matter? TALKED TO ROBERT ROMO+JAY JACKSON

8. How would you like this matter resolved? MY WARNING THROWN OUT!

I understand that these incidents will be investigated, but the information on this form will be

kept confidential to the extent possible.

I understand that all information that I give to the Director, Employee Services will remain

the property of TriMet.

Signature Date

Dates of investigation of complaint

Date of final report

Finding:

TriMet Complaint Procedure for Prohibited Harassment �� Discrimination.5 19 January 2007

TriMet Complaint Procedure for Prohibited Harassment �� Discrimination.6 17 July 2008

TRI-COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT OF OREGON

TriMet Complaint Procedure for

Prohibited Harassment, Discrimination �� Retaliation

STEP 2 DENIED

Jay Jackson, another management crony, just towed the same line as Robert Romo.
He completely ignored my first and most important response which was in writing instead focusing on my "testimony".

It becomes clear after this hearing that there is a conspiracy of harrassment and retaliation in order to get me to comply with their very questionably legal HR rules, which infringe on my rights as a citizen of the state of Oregon

MY VERY CLEAR RESPONSE TO THE LETTER OF DISCIPLINE

Letter to ROBERT ROMO-HAYDEN TALBOT-SHELLY LOMAX-EVEYLYN MINOR-LAWRENCE

Station Manager Romo;

This is my response to the “warning” letter from you and TriMet.

Before I respond to the letter itself I want to make the following comments. I find the personal meetings a waste of my time for two reasons:

1-The warning letter had already been written. There is no reason to discuss anything if the punishment has already been decided. To force me to attend a meeting where the outcome is already decided instead of mutually discussing the issue at hand is completely unproductive. It is also a waste of scarce TriMet resources required to cover my run while I attend.

2-I also find that I am having a hard time trusting your comments. I feel like you are attempting to misrepresent the actual situation.

Now to the letter

On December 17, 2010 there was a conversation between a TriMet Operator and TriMet

Dispatch which you posted on your blog. Although dispatch radio communication is an open

airway, the effect your postings had on your coworker outweighs any reason why someone

would want to post that event for the world to hear. As soon as management was aware of the postings I asked you to take it down. You did as asked

There was never any discussion about my “capturing” over the air dispatch calls in a disciplinary context. As a matter of fact I saw Josh Collins at a board meeting where he mentioned that he had seen the dispatch audio captures posted on my blog but gave no indication that this was in any way a violation of TriMet policy. The only time dispatch calls have been mentioned is in this letter of reprimand.

 I can recall many incidents where TriMet has recorded audio and/or video of employees. TriMet has released these recordings to the public, allowing them to be posted and or broadcast with no regard to the employee being offended, embarrassed, and distraught just before reporting to work to perform job duties. Footage from security cameras on buses, trains, and platforms has frequently been released to the media and played on the news without any indication of consent of the people depicted.

 As another example, TriMet had recorded a telephone conversation between a TriMet Operator and TriMet Dispatcher then allowed this recorded to be played by training to demonstrate why an operator is not allowed to talk on the phone and drive. This was played to many employees and though no names had been mentioned many employees knew who the operator was.

Additionally, TriMet TV (http://www.youtube.com/user/TriMettv) also shows operators, passengers, and other TriMet personnel in their videos. While in some videos it’s obvious that the people shown knew they were being recorded and therefore their consent can be implied, in other videos this is not apparent.  Does TriMet obtain “express permission” to use their images?

 As you acknowledged, when I was informed that the dispatch call in question upset a coworker, I removed the posting in the interest of adhering to a respectful workplace. However, I feel it is reasonable to request clarification of this policy, in particular if there are different standards to which operators are held versus management, training, marketing, or other TriMet employees. As it stands now it seems there are inconsistencies with how this policy is enforced for operators.

Continuing:

coworker outweighs any reason why someone

would want to post that event for the world to hear

You obviously did not see the video. Here is a screen shot of the video itself:

If you had seen the video, the intent behind posting would be clear. It was illustrating the unsafe working conditions created by TriMet and why Neil McFarlane’s attempt to reduce our health care coverage is questionable ethically. I was wondering if maybe Neil himself might have had a hand in this warning letter.

---

{On December 21, 2010 we met to talk about another posting you made about a different coworker. You stated that you would like to not have that person on your blog but you were not going to stand by and let this person slander, intimidate, or bully you on her blog. When I advised that you could file an HR complaint about this coworker you stated that this process is too much trouble.}

I am confused over why this is in the letter at all and what it actually means?
In any event, Ellen Fox continues violating me with impunity. I have informed you that she is making my job unsafe and causing me worry and concern. She is also projecting the idea that Trimet hires and retains criminals, which is what she is accusing me of, criminal activity.

Once again I would like to question the means by which TriMet enforces HR policies involving Employee Conduct (HR 166), Respectful Workplace (HR 171), and Internet Communications and Postings (HR 202). Am I to understand that TriMet will take action to enforce these policies only when an HR complaint is filed? If I do not take action through HR to file a complaint, is it correct that TriMet’s official response is to do nothing even though a manager has been made aware of a violation of these policies as the operator in question is using my image and name without consent? As I stated before I am ready and willing to follow TriMet policies but I would also like it clearly stated how these policies apply to all TriMet employees in the interest of fairness.

{On December 1,2009 you were given a performance counseling that contained explicit instructions about your use of video devices and posting employee audio/video images without express consent from the customers or coworkers. The letter referred to HR 202 Information Technology poli..gY,Jnternet Use and Communications: "Protocolfor internet communications and posting requires that: (bullet 5) you must obtain express permission of any TriMet employee or customer before making audio or visual recordings of them OR using such recording in an internet posting.}

In the original meeting I was informed that while ON DUTY I could not record any images or audio without permission of any other TriMet personnel. I was further informed that I could not do it OFF DUTY either. The conversation and the letter refer to MY PRESENCE in situations where I could record people. There was no talk at the meeting, nor mention in the first letter about anything in the PUBLIC DOMAIN. (insert below from original letter)

The last sentence in the statement above clearly indicates that I am no longer recording employees in the workplace, which is in accordance with all TriMet policies.

Attempts to now state that DISPATCH CALLS were included in the first letter are false!

After this conversation in December of 2009, I have been following the guidelines set by TriMet. However, all subsequent discussion pertaining to the audio capturing of dispatch calls falls outside the scope of what had been covered by TriMet. First, I was not personally present for the dispatch calls and did not personally record any of the people involved. Second, the audio capturing of radio broadcasts transmitted by governmental, civil defense, public safety, police or fire communications system that is readily accessible to the public is explicitly permitted under ORS 165.540, section 7. Therefore, I am within my rights as a citizen to capture this audio and republish it.

In the interest of a positive workplace, when I was informed that a call upset a coworker and was asked by management to remove it, I did, which you acknowledge. However, I violated no Oregon law, and I violated no TriMet policy. If legally permissible activities pertaining to open-air radio broadcasts, including but not limited to scanning, monitoring, capturing, or republishing are contrary to TriMet’s goals of operation, then I request an amendment to TriMet’s policy in this area to prevent further miscommunications on the subject.

.The next section of your letter that I object to:

You stated in our meeting that if it is already in a public domain then it is "free game." This is

incorrect.

I am not sure how you came to conclusion that “this is incorrect”. As I have already pointed out, there is no reference to public domain material that I had not personally recorded. You offer no explanation as how you came to the conclusion “this is incorrect”.

I also have concerns about the implications of this statement.   Are you stating that if Mary Fetsch appears on the evening news to make a statement, I cannot re-post the video from that news segment without first getting her explicit permission? Is audio/visual content from public events, such as TriMet board meetings, the opening of the Civic Drive platform, or safety events such as “Be Seen, Be Safe” against policy to post even though all of those can be freely covered by the media and other area bloggers? As I’m sure you are aware, our buses and trains are among the most photographed features in Portland, and many photographers post their work online on sites such as Flickr, Youtube, and Twitter. Are you saying that I would be in violation of TriMet’s policy by re-posting any of these photographs, even though they were not personally recorded by me and had been originally published online by a non-TriMet employee? I am very skeptical of the legality of this prohibition!

“Your prior performance counseling was due to a series of actions by you that

demonstrated a lack of respectful, courteous and professional conduct toward your coworkers.

This included surreptitious videotaping and recording of coworkers. For this reason, you were

put on express notice that you would not be able to publicly post information about coworkers

or customers without their express permission.”

I am confused as to why you would completely ignore the first letter which clearly states

The first meeting was absolutely not about my “lack of respectful, courteous, and professional conduct”!

I have no idea why you would intentionally make a statement like the one above when it was completely obvious that the purpose of the first meeting was to continue safe driving habits that I was already practicing and to address potential distractions! It seems an intentional distortion to now state otherwise

I strongly object to the statement completely. The connotation is made that I am trying to do something to HURT people! Nothing is further from the truth!  How many complaints have actually been received by employees and/or passengers about me filming or taping them? You refused to provide any information about the basis of your groundless accusation.

Let me conclude that I find this warning letter bizarre, unwarranted, and lacking a sufficient basis for the accusations contained within. It’s a 180 degree turn around from my previous encounters with management over my at-home behavior.

Your warning letter is full of distortions and inaccuracies.

I have already asked the ACLU to look into this, and

I am in the process of completing a Bureau of Labor Relations complaint and having my personal attorney look into this matter.

Al Margulies


The original movie is HERE!

DISCIPLINE IS ORDERED

Here is the clearest example of distortion of facts. The management intentionally distorted the first letter of expectations:

NEXT MEETING

At this meeting I was questioned on a variety of topics, Ellen Fox, videos that were the property of ATU 757, and some other items that I cannot recall as the management refuses to make any sort of recordings of these meetings which gives them complete control of any content to be used in later disciplinary procedures. I consider the conduct of Trimet management to be highly unethical.

I BEGIN RECORDING AND POSTING DISPATCH CALLS

A determined bus blogger, I really wanted access to the incident reports so in a way to get around the acid report ban I began getting live dispatch calls in early September.

The most interesting of these calls I would record and post on my blog.

It’s an open airwave that anyone can listen to and record from.

THERE IS NO EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY WHEN COMMUNICATING OVER AN OPEN AIR CHANNEL!

At the October board meeting I saw Josh Collins who “congratulated” me for finding a way around the acid report and told me what I was doing was completely legal and acceptable in the eyes of Trimet legal.

MEETING WITH TRIMET MANAGERS JOSH+ GREG

At this meeting I was told that I can no longer put up internal documents from Trinet without permission from Josh. This was in a response to my publishing the bus/rail acid reports. The Ellen Fox case was also discussed and I was told that Ellen Fox was my problem, Trimet isn't interested in dealing with her.

TRIMET REMOVES MY ACCESS TO THE "ACID" REPORTS

In the summer of 2010 Trimet management decided that I would no longer have access to the “acid” reports located at the Trinet site. They were apparently unhappy that I was posting this information publicly.

I had discontinued posting the reports directly but was talking about them on my public blog.

It was after that that I was unable to view the reports at all.

THE TYRANNY BEGINS

A witch hunt started against Trimet operators and their behavior behind the wheel. The video precipitated the letter which started my disciplinary procedures as Trimet became increasingly worried about my past behavior behind the wheel and my habit of using video equipment.

The fact of the matter was that I had ceased operating video equipment while driving a transit bus long before the Khris Alexander incident. In any event I was given the following letter of expectations and made to attend a training program to improve my driving skills.

This is an adaptation of the Khris Alexander KATU report:



And here is the letter of expectations that was born from that news story: