Gillespie family photo: submitted

A Charlottetown mother says a driver who works for a bus service for people with disabilities should be fired after he was convicted of assault last week

Editor – we removed the word “spit” from the headline of the story since it implies the assault was spitting which is misleading.

CBC Charlottetown – Pablo Szerman was charged last spring after one of his passengers spit on the bus door, and Szerman reacted by wiping the spit on the passenger’s face.

The passenger was Brenton Gillespie, 14, who has the mental capacity of a three-year old. His condition affects his balance and mobility. His family told CBC News he also finds it hard to swallow, so he’s always spitting.

To get around the city, Brenton uses Pat and the Elephant vans, a transportation service specifically for people with disabilities.

On the day of the incident, Brenton’s older sister Alicia was there to greet him as he got off the van. Brenton spit on the van door on his way out. Alisha said she was about to apologize to Szerman, who was driving at the time.

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“I didn’t even get a chance to say anything, and he took the spit and wiped it in his face,” she said.

“I said, ‘What are you doing?’ And he said, ‘Well, how is he going to learn?’ I said: ‘You don’t do that. He’s a human being. It’s degrading.'”

Brenton’s mother, Valerie Gillespie, still has trouble holding back tears when she tells the story.

“I put him in that van, and I trusted them to take him there, and home safely, and treat him with respect,” she said.

Gillespie believes Szerman should not be allowed to keep his job.

Last week, Szerman was given a six-month conditional sentence and has since apologized to the family.

He has support from some of his other passengers, many of whom wrote letters to the court.

Szerman was out of province and unavailable to CBC News for this story. His lawyer, Alex Godfrey, said his client just wants to move on.

“Pablo has said to me many times he regrets what he did on that day, and that he wishes he could have dealt with it differently,” said Godfrey.

Trent Costello, co-ordinator for Pat and the Elephant, said Szerman has driven adults but not children since May. Costello said he will be allowed to drive children again next fall, after what he called a cooling-off period.

Comments

This story has received more than 40 comments two days after it was posted. I have removed my own comments in favour of using them in a separate article. sp

todaysstory

On InfoPEI : Pat and The Elephant reads as follows;
Specialized transportation service for persons with any mobility impairments (visual, physical, etc.), both short and long term impairments, and also cater to tourists, school age children, tours, seniors, etc. Service is available outside Charlottetown and province by arrangement.

This clearly explains who Pat and The Elephant offer their service to, which I do see includes school age children with or without disabilities. Now tell me beaches, why would this service be needed at all if everyone that travels with Pat and The Elephant needs an escort. This service is offered to help those in need and we should be able to trust that the passengers are treated with respect and safety in every situation.
I agree with Carsonsmom1 completely. This driver was not at all concerned about germs when he stuck his hand in the spit and rubbed it into Brenton’s face. Because Brenton has trouble swallowing he also has to be on a pureed diet so he does not choke or aspirate any food into his lungs which has happened in the past. And Brenton could have as easily contracted germs from the driver’s hands when they were rubbed them in his face. Brenton is a very clean child and his disorder he suffers from is not contagious. Tell me beaches, if an elderly person who was travelling as a passenger with Pat and The Elephant urinated because of a medical condition would this person be rubbed in it? I certainly hope not. Would they need an escort with them? Face it Pablo is not suited for this line of work. And you have no idea what Brenton’s mother does for him. She is an amazing woman and mother with unmeasureable strength and courage. You have no place to question her.

carsonsmom1

” We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid. ” Ben Franklin

In response to some questions asked by beachs. Let me state that I do not know this family but life is not always black and white when raising a special person !!

1) firstly school buses are equipped to handle all kids BUT kids aren’t necessarily equipped to handle all buses . I assume him being 14 they know their child and what he can handle obviously a school bus isn’t and option for him or he would be on it . The one thing we as parents want is for our children is to be normal and do normal things other kids do .

2) His family ,his teachers and Ea’s and anyone else involved are doing EVERTHING in their power to change this behavior. If there was a quick easy fix don’t you think they would have done it .

3)I assume it and the difficulty swallowing are medical

4)This child was accompanied while on Pat and the Elephant by his trusted driver or so they thought .

5) The same concerns as anyone else using public transportation these days . wash you hands after .

6) the driver wasn’t exposed to the spit until he stuck his finger into it to smear it on the boys face as punishment . I don’t think he was too concerned about germs , do you ?

7) I would assume she had made changes unfortunately our options are not as open as you think they are and our choices are limited especially when transportation is concerned . Pat and the Elephant choose this field to enter into . It should not come as a surprise to them that their clients are special and may need extra compassion .

8) Now my question 2 u is .Why on earth do you feel that this child who doesn’t know better is more in the wrong than an Adult who should know better? hasn’t he been taught ?

RoxaneG

I have been reading the comments to this story, and i just cant believe some of these comments. A spit shield, Give me a break. What this man has done, is so degrating, for him to still have a job is just out of this world. People loose their jobs for such less a crime. I really don’t think, that if i sent my child to school on the school bus and this happened to him, that i would think, that the unit 3 school board would have fired the bus driver. We put our children in the trust of the the people who do the services in this community, and we have to trust that the employers do their jobs in the hiring and fireing of their employees. I wouuld be totally out raged if this happened to me, with a child with no disabilities. For those who work with the disabled, it takes a special person to do this job. Not just anyone is qualified or has the patience. Working with the disabled takes patience and lots of understanding. If you were working in this field of employment, if that happened in a nursing home, or a facility with the disabled, you would be fired. What makes Pablo so special that he is intitled to keep his job. Pat and the Elephant, should look over their mission statement. Also, remember what services they do, and who is their priority. Without the disabled in need of transportation, pat and the elephant wouldn’t have a business. This is not the first case of abuse with one of the drivers of pat and the elephant.

beachs

Yes, this was an unfortunate incident. Pat and the Elephant, including management and drivers, provide exceptional service to ALL those who need it. They go beyond the ‘call of duty’ to accommodate the needs of those unfortunate enough to use their service.

We, as Canadians, have a justice system. This system has heard both sides of the story (not just the mother’s versions who was not present) and dealt with the issue accordingly. I trust in that system and believe that Pablo has a fair and just decision from the courts. He has a conditional discharge and other consequences including an apology.

There are other questions that emerge. 1) Why does the child not use the school bus as I believe they are equipped to accommodate this needs? 2) What is the mother doing to train the child appropriate behaviour (spitting on a publically used vehicle is not appropriate)? 3) Is the ‘3-year old’ the mother’s assessment or a medical assessment? 4) Why is the child not accompanied by the mother on Pat and the Elephant transportation to make sure the ‘3-year old’ has a proper escort and that she cleans up after the child (I certainly would not have a 3-year old unescorted on any public transportation system)? 5) What concerns are there for other passengers (later on) who may come in contact with ‘spit’ from the child? The passengers may be medically vulnerable and be exposed to the flu/cold or other transmittable germs. 6) What concern is there for the drivers who are exposed to ‘spit’? 7) When the mother is so dissatisfied with the service, I hope that she has made alternate arrangements such as the school bus for the transportation of her child and that she has accompanied (or had another adult accompany) the child on all trips since.

A Concerned Mom

As the parent of a child with a disability i think this is HORRIBLE, what is this man doing still working with Pat and The Elephant? He is obviously not qualified to work with anyone with a disability, not just kids with disabilities, Fire him now before he does this to someone else again, and this isnt the first time there has been complaints against this guy. Pat and The Elephant should care more about the safety and treating their clients of any age with respect and equality.GGGRRRRRR!!!!

Haggis 03

Fired? I think the driver for Pat and the Elelphant is perfectly suited for a guard position at Sleepy Hollow prision. Or lets go big, his temperment seems perfectly adapted to provicial politics. That way he can assualt the general population with impunity. Until the justice system deals with violent crime in an appropriate mannner this type of senseless bahavior will continue.

todaysstory

Brenton is not the first to be a victim of abuse by a driver from Pat and the Elephant. Google Pat and the Elephant and you can read more. Brenton’s story and other’s, are the one’s we have heard about. I wonder how many other stories there are. We need to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

efox100

To allow a man like this to work with disabled people is very disturbing! Anyone irresposible enough to treat disabled people with such disrespect in front of others(especially family), makes you wonder how he would treat these people behind closed doors. How could anyone trust someone like this? If the company allows him to continue his employment, this sends a terrible message about not only the standard of their business, but also says they believe abuse acceptable! To let this man keep his job is very repulsive!