Omniscient Texas Bus Driver Now $21,000 Richer

[meegbear]

Earler this year we wrote a series of posts about Edwin Graning, a miraculously omniscient Texas bus driver who determined entirely on his own that one of his passengers was going to a Planned Parenthood facility in South Austin in order to get an abortion and therefore refused to transport her.

His story kept changing and his explanation was questionable and he was ultimately fired by the Capital Area Rural Transportation System ... and so, of course, Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice stepped in to represent him in a lawsuit alleging that he was being discriminated against because of his Christian faith.

Today it was reported that Graning is now $21,000 richer, thanks to the fact that bus system decided it would just be cheaper to just settle than it would be to fight the case in court:

The Capital Area Rural Transportation System has paid $21,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a driver who was fired for refusing to take two women to a Planned Parenthood clinic last year.

Edwin Graning's lawsuit had claimed officials with the nine-county public transportation system, known as CARTS , discriminated against him based on his religion. Graning refused to drive the women because he had been "concerned that he might be transporting a client to undergo an abortion," said the lawsuit, which was filed last year in U.S. District Court in Austin ... Graning, of Kyle, was represented by lawyers from the American Center for Law & Justice, founded by evangelical Christian leader Pat Robertson. According to the suit, Graning is "an ordained Christian minister who is opposed to abortion."

...

Reached Tuesday, Graning said it was a "fair settlement."

<snip>

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/omniscient-texas-bus-drive-now-21000-richer

[Lasher]

1. Now the ACLU needs to sue the CARTS on behalf of the two women.

It is they whose rights were violated and the CARTS has rewarded Graning's behavior.

[LiberalFighter]

2. Run him over with a bus loaded with religious nuts.

[damntexdem]

3. $21k richer and out of a job?

I certainly hope so, that the settlement didn't include rehiring of the incompetent idiot.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. Part of the settlement was that he is banned from seeking employment with them ever again.

I found that a nice touch.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. They were probably right. It would have cost them more than 21K to fight it.

It's such a shame they couldn't afford to do the right thing here.

[ck4829]

6. Come on Graning, you can use your $21k to repair our economy with your psychic powers, right?