The Vegetarian OCTA Driver Loses His Job

The Orange County Transportation Authority on Friday fired a vegetarian bus driver who refused to distribute coupons for free Carl’s Jr. hamburgers.

The authority cited driver Bruce Anderson’s refusal to follow orders--not his dietary beliefs--as the reason for his dismissal.

“To us the issue has never been about hamburgers or meat or anything else,” said OCTA spokesman John Standiford. “It’s a case where he made a conscious decision not to do a reasonable part of his job. It’s a matter of not following orders.”

The nature of OCTA’s business requires its drivers to observe strict discipline, Standiford said, or bus service would suffer.

On the advice of his lawyer, prominent Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, Anderson declined to comment on his firing.

Union officials said they would fight for Anderson’s reinstatement. They plan to file a grievance soon.

“I think, to the authority, it’s very simple: It’s insubordination,” said Mike Patton, business representative of Teamsters Local 952. “But to us it’s a huge overreaction.”

Anderson had refused to hand out the coupons before starting work Tuesday, and several hours into his route he was ordered off his bus.

In the promotion, riders receive free hamburgers at Carl’s Jr. Orange County restaurants if they buy soft drinks. The promotion is scheduled to run each Tuesday this month. At a disciplinary hearing Thursday, Anderson had offered to be assigned to different duties for those three days.

Carl’s Jr. said it did not influence OCTA’s decision to fire Anderson.

“We feel that we don’t have a right or an obligation to interfere with any disciplinary action that OCTA is taking with any of its employees,” said Carl’s Jr. spokeswoman Suzi Brown.

Anderson’s suspension and firing has become nationwide news. Animal-rights groups, First Amendment advocates and others have offered opinions on the case.

“The Orange County Transit Authority is punishing Bruce for his beliefs by taking this unnecessarily drastic measure of firing him,” said Ava Park, founder of the animal rights group Orange County People for Animals, of which Anderson is a member. The group has set up a fund to help Anderson pay his living expenses while unemployed.

But by firing the bus driver, “OCTA educates Orange Countians about the institutionalized abuse of millions of animals in factory farms, in laboratories, in the entertainment industry and the making of fur,” Park said.

Indeed, the union is counting on the outrage of such groups to help Anderson.

“I think that if he has a fairly good shot, it’s because of the high profile his case has gotten,” Patton said.

More than 100 people called OCTA Thursday, Standiford said, and Friday the phones were even busier.

“We’ve had calls from as far as Holyoke, Mass., from Florida, and the Milwaukee area,” Standiford said. “I’d say it was split pretty evenly, but probably leaning a little in favor of the bus driver.”