Campus bus driver fired after arrest

An IU bus driver arrested for operating a campus bus while intoxicated Saturday afternoon was fired Monday morning.\nCampus Bus Director Jim Hosler said the driver, Robyn C. Griffith, had never caused any problems before Saturday, when she was involved in an accident near College Mall and arrested after failing a dexterity test.\nPolice preliminarily charged Griffith with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, but are awaiting results of a blood test to determine what, if any, substances she was influenced by.\nHosler defended the firing, even though Griffith has not been found guilty of a crime.\n"That was just my decision," Hosler said. "We're not going to take any chances. The fact that she was arrested by police and taken for a drug test, that was enough. We decided we would terminate her since she's only an hourly driver."\nHosler said Griffith could be brought back if she is cleared of the charges.\nThe accident occurred at the intersection of Third Street and College Mall Road soon after Griffith's bus picked up riders at a nearby stop at 3:39 p.m. Saturday. According to the police report, the accident began when a car in the bus's blind spot honked its horn to make its presence known. The bus then got behind that vehicle and followed it too closely, according to the report. Witnesses told police Griffith then tried to pass the car after they both stopped at a light, sideswiping it as it did so.\nPolice responded and gave Griffith a dexterity test because she displayed "unusual behavior" marked by slow and slurred speech and had red, bloodshot eyes, the report said. Griffith failed that test and was transported to Bloomington Hospital where the blood test was administered.\nHosler said there are precautions to prevent incidents like these from ever occurring. Under the University's drug testing program, Hosler said potential employees face drug tests and, after being hired, employees are always subject to random testing. \nHosler had not spoken with Griffith since the accident, but said he believed the termination procedure was routine under University and federal policy, though it is the first time anything like this has happened at IU, he said.\n"We've never had one before," Hosler said. "But, if there was a violation of department, University or federal policy under the (Commercial Driver's License) policy, then we can terminate the employee."\nGriffith did not have a listed phone number and did not return an e-mail message by press time.