Dublin Bus we loathe and need you but, unfortunately, it's a toxic relationship that none of us can really get out of. Sadly, for one person, she learnt there really is no justice in the world. Roxana Pach, a trainee dental nurse from Dublin, sued Dublin Bus after a driver called her a "skankhole" as she boarded her bus.
Roxana Pach, from Lucan, was boarding a bus when litter fell to the ground. The bus driver stopped her and proceeded to ask her to pick up the litter. Pach told the Circuit Civil Court that the driver, on November 11th 2015, stared at her as she refused to pick up the litter. Pach felt embarrassed and the bus driver stalled the transaction as she refused to pick up the litter.
Pach claimed the driver called her a ‘fucking skankhole’ as she departed the bus at her stop and a "skank" during the transaction. Pach felt the term portrayed her as a woman of low morals, promiscuous, dishonest and a prostitute. The driver admitted there was a confrontation but denied calling her any defamatory terms. According to The Irish Times the judge complimented the bus driver for policing the woman's littering.The court was asked to question whether the term "skankhole" is enough for people to consider Ms. Pach as a person of low morale. The judge decided that it would take an idiotic person to fully believe the words directed at Ms. Pach.
Pach lost the €75,000 defamatory case. The judge felt it was appropriate for the bus driver to reprimand Ms. Pach with his language. What do you think? Isn't that encouraging the public to treat other people like crap if they don't agree with their beliefs or policing how we behave in public? Is littering the final straw when it comes to public disorder?
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