3 Monorail Employees Suspended

[tigsmom]

It's important to note the highlighted pieces above. They were put on paid leave and not suspended according to this article. Suspension is a disciplinary action and the time missed is not paid. Leave is time that you are asked to not work for whatever reason but still paid. In the article it quotes someone as indicating this leave is for the investigation process. I'm sure there are a lot of different interviews being given to these people by several different investigators. Coming from a military family and law enforcement background this is a very important difference in suspension and paid leave. Also, in the law enforcement field it is standard that if a major event occurs resulting in the death of their own personnel, coworkers who were directly involved are given some time off and counseling to deal with the emotional and psychological impact of the event. Failing to provide this recovery process can create more dangerous situations in the future if the people are performing their job duties and become overwhelmed by their emotions or memories.

:wave:

You can be suspended with pay pending an investigation, punitive actions can be taken at a later date. It is done all the time.

 

[Tom]

(CNN) -- Three Disney monorail workers have been placed on paid leave just days after two monorail trains crashed at the Orlando, Florida, theme park, killing one of the train's operators, according to a Disney spokeswoman.

The three workers were a monorail maintenance shop member, the monorail pilot of one of the trains and a transportation manager.

It just dawned on me - there's no such thing as "paid leave" for hourly workers. They're not getting paid if they're not on the clock (unless one or more of them were salary, which would surprise me).

So, this just really means "they weren't fired....yet".

 

[tigsmom]

It just dawned on me - there's no such thing as "paid leave" for hourly workers. They're not getting paid if they're not on the clock (unless one or more of them were salary, which would surprise me).

So, this just really means "they weren't fired....yet".

Probably :shrug: Maybe the manager was salaried ...

Doesn't matter how we say it it's a horrible situation to be in and my heart goes out to all involved. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy

 

[Space Mountain]

Reportedly, one of the monorail Managers was eating at Denny's and was communicating from there via radio.

This is not confirmed, just what was reported.

It was more than just 1....theres A LOT of details missing here that have been held quiet by current monorail pilots.

 

[EpcotServo]

I place blame half with the accused-and half with the system that created (And arguably continues) to breed this climate of ignoring safety and caution with productivity and numbers on a sheet of paper.

 

[kashmir]

Monorail Incident

Although it was reported in the news and on this site, the two who were off property may have been buying pizza for CMs working late hours - according to another poster on this site, different thread. Let's wait to get the facts.

 

[CaptainJackNO]

He still should have noticed he backed up onto the wrong track, instructions or not. He was the last line in the chain of events that lead to the accident, and could have prevented this from happening had he been paying attention.

Not sure if you have been a monorail pilot in the past; hpwever, I doubt it is the same as driving a car.

 

[CaptainJackNO]

I know there will always be speculation; however, I think Disney will get to the root of the problem and handle the matter appropriately.

 

[Passport]

I am just grateful there were no passengers traveling in the front with the pilot.

 

[SoccerMickey]

Although it was reported in the news and on this site, the two who were off property may have been buying pizza for CMs working late hours - according to another poster on this site, different thread. Let's wait to get the facts.

Denny's serves pizza?

 

[Thelazer]

The managers in question would have blackberrys, they can be used to find out exactly where they were when the radio calls were made. Text messages, emails and other information from those devices can be viewed and all calls were more than likely recorded.

I know of rumors from a few years ago, that a manager was off property on company time doing some shopping. The rumor was that the GPS in the Blackberry was used to find out there location and they were fired.

This is all rumor of course.

BTW- If the monorail pilots are withholding info, that is HORRIBAL!
A person was killed, the truth should be told, no cover ups, no protection of management or friends. That is the honorable thing to do.
There is a union, the union should insist that it's members be honest and truthful, end of story.

 

[kcnole]

He still should have noticed he backed up onto the wrong track, instructions or not. He was the last line in the chain of events that lead to the accident, and could have prevented this from happening had he been paying attention.

Have you ever driven a monorail? If not then you need to stop this baseless speculation. I've talked to a number of people who have performed this same maneuver and they state that the way the switch line is situated its almost impossible to tell if you've switched even in the best of conditions, much less at 2 in the morning after a 12 hour switch.

Someone probably screwed up here and someone probably needs to be fired, but we all need to back off on convicting anyone until the facts come out. If what I have been told about the track switch is correct then I feel awful for the pilot of pink. He's got to be eaten up with guilt even though he may not have done anything wrong. We're not going to help anything without convicting this guy without a trial.

Its also important to note that all these other speculations are just that, speculation.

 

[Duckberg]

Safety

Sure that WDW mang. will upgrade overall safety procedures to make the chances of a repeat situation unlikely. IMO park visitors riding in front with pilot is OVER for good! Duckberg

 

[Slipknot]

BTW- If the monorail pilots are withholding info, that is HORRIBAL!
A person was killed, the truth should be told, no cover ups, no protection of management or friends. That is the honorable thing to do.
There is a union, the union should insist that it's members be honest and truthful, end of story.

Maybe they have been told to keep quiet until the investigation by the NTSB is over? They might not have a choice in the matter at this point. If I remember correctly, Disney has been asked by the NTSB to not talk to news agencies until the investigation is over, so that might include the regular CMs...

 

[Hakunamatata]

It just dawned on me - there's no such thing as "paid leave" for hourly workers. They're not getting paid if they're not on the clock (unless one or more of them were salary, which would surprise me).

So, this just really means "they weren't fired....yet".

Im pretty sure if Disney said go home until we conclude this investigation and we are going to pay you for it, they can do it.

 

[Mr.EPCOT]

Have you ever driven a monorail? If not then you need to stop this baseless speculation. I've talked to a number of people who have performed this same maneuver and they state that the way the switch line is situated its almost impossible to tell if you've switched even in the best of conditions, much less at 2 in the morning after a 12 hour switch.

I'm sorry, but wrong wrong wrong. There's no way an attentive Pilot can't tell which beam they're on. I've done many many switches myself, and if I was in the same situation, I'd know well before my train was even all the way over the switch, if not sooner! Even failing that, if you're paying attention to your surroundings as you're always supposed to, you should quickly realize that the beamway next to you is on the wrong side of your train! Nighttime isn't an excuse. There is plenty of lighting around the area, and Switch 9 is especially well-lit.
Also, if you think you're too tired and/or fatigued to drive safely, then you tell a coordinator that and they can find someone else. When I was being drive-trained, along with the standard driving priorities (drive the train, listen and talk on the radio, and listen and talk to your Guests, if I remember right), he drilled one more into me, relentlessly: PAY ATTENTION! It sure doesn't sound like this Pink driver was doing that.

I'm not calling you out personally, I just don't know what the deal is with these Pilots you've spoken to.

 

[Tinkyroo]

I am just grateful there were no passengers traveling in the front with the pilot.

I keep thinking that too. Thank goodness that family of 6 had not asked to ride up front with Austin.

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Have you ever driven a monorail? If not then you need to stop this baseless speculation. I've talked to a number of people who have performed this same maneuver and they state that the way the switch line is situated its almost impossible to tell if you've switched even in the best of conditions, much less at 2 in the morning after a 12 hour switch.

If this is true (which some monorail pilots have indicated is not) than there needs to be in place a system that WILL inform the pilot of where they are at ALL times even when in override. A simple indicator to tell them whether they are still on Epcot or are on the switch, etc.

 

[coastermaster83]

If this is true (which some monorail pilots have indicated is not) than there needs to be in place a system that WILL inform the pilot of where they are at ALL times even when in override. A simple indicator to tell them whether they are still on Epcot or are on the switch, etc.

You know I was thinking the same thing, have a light or something in between the beams that is like a turn signal, if you are on the epcot beam its left if you are on the switch beam its right, something like that could make all the difference in the world. I still think its weird that you have a safety system and you shut it down to switch tracks. Seems like someone needs to rewrite some code in MAPO to fix that problem. :sohappy:

 

[nolatron]

Even failing that, if you're paying attention to your surroundings as you're always supposed to, you should quickly realize that the beamway next to you is on the wrong side of your train! Nighttime isn't an excuse. There is plenty of lighting around the area, and Switch 9 is especially well-lit.

This is exactly what I was thinking and what my statement was based on.