NAACP supports lawsuit against Tulsa Transit over alleged workplace hostility

TULSA, OKLA (KTUL) — More than 10 former and current Metro Link Tulsa employees are calling the NAACP for help amid claims that Tulsa Transit is a hostile work environment. Employees say their managers threaten and discriminate against them.

“This has been going on for six years,” said Alicia Moore, a current bus driver for Tulsa Transit.

She and her former co-workers who met with News Channel 8 say managers create a hostile work environment, harass employees, abuse them, falsify records, threaten people with guns and have a list of wrongful terminations.

“She got mad because I had been taking her to court for six years for lack of representation and she attacked me with a knife,” Moore said.

She adds that she finally filed a police report, but nothing came of it. This police report is one of many documents used in the Oklahoma EEOC complaint filed by her and her former colleagues. Records show that the Oklahoma EEOC gave them permission to sue Tulsa Transit.

“They lost about 250 people. That’s over 250 people. They lost a lot of drivers,” Moore said.

We reached out to Tulsa Transit multiple times over the course of two weeks for comment. We didn’t hear an answer.

Former employees say they followed the chain of command when they filed complaints against management. Nakia Burris is a former Tulsa Transit executive. She was the person employees turned to when they had complaints, but as the complaints mounted, Burris found that senior management made work difficult.

“The drivers came and asked, ‘Can you apologize to us?’ “I have to go up to her and say, ‘Hey, I need a complaint, can you drop it in their mailbox because she threw it all out,'” Burris said.

Former employees alleged that when they complained, senior management retaliated and fired them.

“The last one involved a hostile work environment that affected my pay and was subject to bullying. I introduced it. She (Burris) heard her say I was going to fire Shiela because of this,” said Sheila Hill, a former bus driver.

Hill worked there for five years before she was fired.

“Fresence is good. I have no credits. No accidents. No nothing,” Hill said.

Crystal Carter is also a former manager at Tulsa Transit. She said she defended the attacked driver because she didn’t like the way senior management handled the situation.

“I was withdrawn from service. They sent me home and two days later I was released,” Carter said.

NAACP Tulsa chapter president Francetta Mays said they will help pay for lawyers representing current and former employees.

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