retribution for termination

[lane912]

On a cold night in January 2009, TriMet union president Jonathan Hunt found himself standing outside his Beaverton home, dressed in a bathrobe and arguing with a taxi driver.

"It was 2 a.m.," Hunt recalled. "The driver insisted that someone with my name had called for a ride to the airport. I told him it had to be a mistake."

A week later, the head of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 began receiving multiple calls in the dead of night from an automated wake-up service.

That's when Hunt realized that the taxi and sleep-shattering phone calls weren't a mistake. The harassment, whose targets included outgoing General Manager Fred Hansen, was part of what Hunt and TriMet officials describe as the latest "terrorizing campaign" by a fired TriMet driver.

Hunt said James Lee Stenger has harassed him by posting Craigslist ads selling Hunt's things, signing him up for magazine subscriptions, having a dozen pizzas sent to his house and writing obscene restaurant reviews that mention him and Hansen.

TriMet said the agency suspects Stenger also is behind the cyber-harassment of a half dozen current and former employees, including a fake pornography site that claims to feature a female operations manager.

"We want this stopped," Hunt said.

The problem for law enforcement officials: Stenger, 57, is living in Thailand, out of easy reach of U.S. authorities.

While the FBI declined to confirm an investigation, officials said the case was a perfect example of how the Internet has made it easy for people to thumb their nose at U.S. authorities from halfway around the world.

"The obvious challenge is that he's not in the U.S.," said Beth Anne Steele, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Portland. "We would have to look at a way to go through legal authorities in Thailand."

What's more, Steele said, the alleged activity, while malicious, may not rise to a level where the FBI would dedicate resources to a criminal case.

E-mails to Stenger's YouTube account, where he has posted a six-minute anti-TriMet manifesto set to heavy-metal music, have not been returned.

In November 2004, Stenger, who once lived in Beaverton, was off-duty but wearing his TriMet uniform when he made racial comments to a Hawaiian restaurant employee at the Kauai Island Grill on Northwest Murray Road. He pushed an employee and kicked in a door at the business when he had trouble changing his order.

TriMet officials investigated his behavior and ended his 11-year employment a month later. Stenger went through the grievance process, Hunt said, but the union membership voted against supporting him. Stenger pleaded guilty in 2005 to harassment and was sentenced to probation.

The relatively recent events aren't the first time Stenger has been accused of harassing TriMet officials.

In June 2006, TriMet police warned the public that they were looking for Stenger, saying he was sending threatening e-mails to the transit agency from Thailand.

A little more than a year ago, Hunt said, Stenger started e-mailing him, requesting that TriMet change his termination to a resignation. "He wanted to come back to the States and look for work again," Hunt said.

Hunt said he has repeatedly had to answer questions from union and city officials from around the Northwest who have read the offensive postings credited to him.

"Unfortunately," Hunt said, "Jim Stenger is getting higher ratings on Google than any of the good work we're doing."
March, 2010 Monthly News Archives | Hard Drive - OregonLive.com


/fire_trimet_driver_union_attac.html#

yes you can go too far-

[HardDrive]

Plane ticket to Thailand, one good whack from a machette, done.

[Rikao4]

or he could expand into Wisconsin..
those hardworking teachers love pizza..

Rika

[Jeff Higgins]

So, this Stenger guy was fired from a job he held for eleven years for an incident that happened on his own time? Even if he was wearing the company uniform, that's a bit harsh.

Fuch Hunt and Hansen both. Stenger is my new hero.

[Tobra]

here is a link to an article about the story, guy is going to sue and almost certainly win
Former TriMet bus driver James Stenger extradited to Portland on identity theft, harassment charges | OregonLive.com

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

So, this Stenger guy was fired from a job he held for eleven years for an incident that happened on his own time? Even if he was wearing the company uniform, that's a bit harsh.

Fuch Hunt and Hansen both. Stenger is my new hero.

Sorry Jeff, even if off duty the uniform still represents the employer.

It's possible the employer or his Union have morals clauses as terms of employment which could lead to his termination even if he was in street clothes.

The verbal abuse is one thing, he also physically assaulted a store employee and caused property damage.

Sounds like a winner to me.

His subsequent behaviour supports the opinion that he's a loser.

[legion]

I imagine this guy was an all-around asshat and this was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Even his union wouldn't support him, that means he was probably way over the line multiple times.

[Normy]

I think an employer has a right to dictate behavior while wearing the company uniform.

That being said....this Hunt needs to be WAY careful. This guy's immature actions set off warning-bells in my head! I recommend a CCW permit if he doesn't have one, since my read on this James Stenger is that he's probably mentally unbalanced. The union probably realized this and was happy to be rid of him. That's why the MEC grievance committee refused to act on his complaint.

There is no way to contact Thai authorities and complain about this person's actions? Perhaps a visit by law enforcement would be enough to settle him down. It's worth a try.

N

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Normy

There is no way to contact Thai authorities and complain about this person's actions? Perhaps a visit by law enforcement would be enough to settle him down. It's worth a try.

N

Apparently the OP's link was a bit dated.

Stenger has since been picked up in Hawaii and extradited.

Sentence in late Jan 2011 to 30 months, fines and 5 years probation.

Chronology here.

james lee stenger | OregonLive.com

[sammyg2]

He sounds like a very normal, responsible, stable person.
I'm absolutely sure his firing was completely unjustified and he never did anything wrong at work to lead up to his dismissal, besides the fact that he went batsheet crazy over an order at a restaurant.
Other than that I'm sure he was a model employee and we should all look up to him as a hero. Who cares if doing that clearly demonstrates the fact that we can't tell the difference between right and wrong?

[masraum]

Getting fired was obviously not his fault. It was because of society and his cab company. . Yeah, seems very unstable. Dude just needs to get over it. What's that stuff that you don't hear about much any more? Oh yeah, personal responsibility.