Port Authority driver files race discrimination suit over Black Lives Matter masks

A Port Authority of Allegheny County bus driver already involved in a lawsuit filed by union members over Black Lives Matter masks at the agency filed his own federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging race discrimination.

James Hanna, of Penn Hills, has worked for Port Authority since 1988. He said in the complaint that he was ordered home because he wore a Black Lives Matter mask during disciplinary hearings last year when he was serving as a union steward.

In September 2020, Hanna was one of three employees, including his wife Monika Wheeler Hanna, to file a lawsuit against Port Authority alleging that its modified uniform policy, amended in July 2020, violated their First Amendment right to free speech.

Previously, Port Authority supported a variety of political and social issues, including Pride month, women’s rights and a variety of candidates for office, their lawsuit said.

The amended uniform policy prohibited employees from wearing “buttons, stickers, jewelry and clothing (including masks or other face coverings) of a political or social protest nature.”

The union members alleged that the policy specifically targeted the Black Lives Matter movement, and members of the Amalgamated Transit Union and Local No. 85 filed suit. U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan found that the uniform policy was unconstitutional and ruled in favor of the union. Port Authority appealed, and the case is scheduled to be argued at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 7.

According to the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Hanna, who serves as union steward, wore a Black Lives Matter mask during disciplinary hearings at the East Liberty garage on Aug. 13, 2020. He was ordered to remove it in accordance with the modified uniform policy, but he refused, the complaint said.

The hearings were canceled for the day, and Hanna was sent home to wait for a hearing on his own discipline, the lawsuit said. The complaint noted that on the day he was disciplined, two white employees were in violation of the uniform policy — they were wearing jeans and sandals — but were not disciplined.

Ultimately, the complaint said, Hanna received a verbal warning and was told not to wear Black Lives Matter apparel in the future.

The lawsuit alleges that when he continued to protest Port Authority’s prohibition on Black Lives Matter masks, he was retaliated against, including having limited access to his union files and workspace and receiving more severe discipline than a white driver following an accident. In Hanna’s case, the lawsuit said, no one was injured, but he received a final written warning and a seven-day suspension, whereas a white driver, whose crash involved injuries, received a verbal warning.

His lawsuit includes claims for race discrimination and retaliation.

A spokesman for Port Authority declined to comment.

Wheeler Hanna, who is an instructor at the Ross garage, filed her own individual lawsuit alleging race discrimination and retaliation last week, as well.