TriMet announced today that it’s placed on paid administrative leave the operator whose actions contributed to the separation of a father from his 3-year-old son at a train station last week.
The Nov. 16 incident, which has earned national attention, occurred after 3-year-old Aiden Bailey hit the ramp button while exiting the train. The doors immediately began to close in order to deploy the ramp for handicap access. And the boy’s father, Aaron Bailey, was forced to let go of his son’s hand as the doors closed.
The doors would have re-opened after the ramp had deployed, but the train operator may have overridden the deployment process, according to TriMet. At any rate, the train departed, leaving the child alone with a stranger, 22-year-old Orianne Greene. She waited with the boy until his father arrived on a returning train seven minutes later.
TriMet, which did not identify the MAX operator, says it will address the issue with the operator at a disciplinary meeting Wednesday morning.
