Transit Company Denies Comp to Bus Driver Attacked at Work

Richmond, VA (WorkersCompensation.com) – A transit company in Virginia has apologized for suspending a bus driver after he was attacked on the job, but they say they’re still denying his workers’ compensation claim. 

Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) said its driver, Wayne Harvell, could have done more to avoid the attack as their defense against paying the claim. 

In October 2021, Harvell was driving a bus for GRTC in the in Gilpin Court area when a passenger became unruly. 

According to reports, Harvell radioed dispatch to call for help. Initially, Harvell asked if he could pull over at a police precinct and get a police officer. The passenger had threatened to “blow my head off,” he told dispatchers.   

But dispatchers told Harvell not to go to the police precinct, and instead pull over and wait for assistance.   

Bus security footage showed that Harvell did just that – stopped the bus, got out and waited for help.   

That’s when the passenger punched him.   

“The guy raised his hands, and now they’re in a fight,” Sean Kavanagh, with Harbison and Kavanagh and Harvell’s attorney, said.   

For about five minutes, Harvell tried to defend himself against the passenger, security footage shows, going from on and off the bus.   

A passerby tried to stop the fight, and Harvell tried to stop the attack, footage shows, but the passenger continued fighting.  

"This is a fight for his life, there is no question about that when you look at the video, it is a fight for his life," Kavanagh said.  

Eventually, Harvell fell to the ground where the passenger kicked him in the head.   

"He brutally kicked the operator at least four times," Maurice Carter, a former GRTC driver and President of ATU-Local 1220, told 6News Richmond.  

After being off work to recover for several days, GRTC suspended Harvell without pay for one day and put a disciplinary note in his file. Carter said that Harvell also asked to not be put on that route for fear of being attacked again by the same rider. That request was denied by GRTC.   

Initially, GRTC told 6News that Harvell could have better de-escalated the situation.   

Since then, GRTC CEO Julie Timm has apologized to Harvell and reversed the suspension.   

"This morning, I reviewed the internal video footage of the assault and concluded that our bus Operator was not at fault,” Timm said in a statement. “I have directed staff to process back-pay for the one-day suspension and remove the discipline from the operator’s record. I am personally apologizing to our Operator for the suspension which added undue stress on him after being assaulted. I believe the Operator followed their safety and de-escalation training correctly and was still inexcusably attacked by the passenger. I am deeply grateful that the operator was not seriously injured; however, I recognize this assault could have ended tragically. I am personally overseeing a full review of all of our safety and communications protocols to provide better support and protection for our Operators and for all of our staff.”  

Now, however, Harvell’s family said, his workers’ compensation claim for injuries he suffered as a result of the attack, have been denied.   

Kimberly Harvell, Wayne Harvell’s wife, said her husband did go back to work, but that he suffered from severe headaches and ringing in his ears.   

"When he finally did see the neurologist, the neurologist told him you have a severe concussion," Kimberly said.  

The diagnosis prevented him from working, so he applied for workers’ compensation, she said. GRTC denied the claim.   

"Their defense is that there are a couple of occasions where he could have potentially retreated, extricated himself from the fight, backed into the bus, shut the door," Harvell’s attorney Kavanagh said.  

The family has since filed the claim with the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission, Kavanaugh said.   

The company said they didn’t deny the claim, their insurance company did.  

“GRTC does not approve or deny worker’s compensation claims. All decisions on worker’s compensation are separated from GRTC administration and include independent, expert evaluation of all evidence and medical documentation to ensure fair and impartial application of benefits,” the company said in a statement. “An administrative decision by GRTC’s CEO regarding fault or discipline has no bearing on whether the facts of the case meet the legal requirements for workers' compensation benefits. The Worker’s Compensation Insurance Carrier and, ultimately, the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission make those decisions.”  

Officials said Harvell’s case is under judicial review and is still pending a final decision.  

It’s not the first time GRTC has had one of its bus drivers attacked on the job.   

In 2015, driver Sherrie Braxton was violently attacked after a passenger asked why the bus was headed in a different direction. The discussion turned into a heated argument. Eventually, the passenger, Maurice Mason, began yelling and cursing at her. She asked him to get off the bus.   

When Braxton hit a panic button alerting supervisors that something was wrong, Mason reached into his pocket. Even though Braxton shot at Mason with a stun gun from her purse several times, he still was able to cut her with a hunting knife before fleeing.   

Nationwide, incidents of attacks on bus drivers have been on the rise since 2020. In Richmond, there were 28 incidents of verbal or physical assaults, the transit company said. By the time of Harvell’s assault, there had been 35.