A bus driver in Taichung, Taiwan received a serious rebuke and caused his company to be fined by the Taiwan government of NT$5,000 on Saturday (4/7), for verbally harassing and refusing service to migrant workers who wore too much perfume, Monday ( 6/7/2020).
Quoted from Focus Taiwan, a video on YouTube uploaded on Friday (3/7) shows the driver, surnamed Chao (趙), getting off Bus route 97 Southeast to check the scent of three migrant workers waiting at the Youshi Interchange bus stop. -You 9 in Yu Shi Industrial Park and only allowed two migrant workers to get on the bus.
The video shows Chao refusing one of the migrant workers to board the bus and his hand gesturing for the migrant worker to leave.
Later at another stop the video shows drivers not adopting the same “smelling criteria” for passengers who look (local) Taiwanese.
Near the end of the video, the driver is seen verbally harassing another migrant worker, yelling at him to get off the bus for wearing too much perfume.
“Go out! You wear too much perfume!” Chao shouted in a video uploaded on YouTube.
Huang Yu-yao (黃), the manager of Southeast Bus, said after being notified of the matter by a migrant worker brokerage agency, an investigation found that Chao was allergic to perfume and had an allergic skin reaction.
However, that is not a justifiable excuse for the serious offense of verbally harassing and refusing passengers on the bus that he has committed.
The bus driver had only been on duty for about two months and mostly served the route between Yuanli National Middle School and Taichung Airport via Yu Shi Industrial Park.
Huang said that drivers should notify the bus company if they have allergy problems.
According to Huang, currently the driver is still serving the same route, but has been asked by the company to wear his mask at all times and open the driver’s side window to get some fresh air.
If Chao continues to have allergic reactions, then Chao will be asked if he wants to change to another bus route.
Chen Wen-cheng (陳文政), deputy head of the city’s Public Transport and Rapid Transit System Office, said Southeast Bus had been fined NT$5,000 (US$170) because the driver refused passengers to board the bus.
Security cameras installed on buses will also be reviewed to look for other related violations.
