Since 1986 the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission has been a staple within the Washington DC Metropolitan area, providing commuters with safe passage into and out of the nation’s capital. It has expanded its operations into several areas of Northern Virginia and has continued to function during the global pandemic.

However, not all is what it seems on the surface.

With the impending transition to Keolis from First Transit on November 1, several allegations of misconduct against PRTC have come to light. Recently, the PW Perspective sat down with the former Manager of Dispatch, Kenneth Jones, to discuss what he and several other employees experienced at PRTC.

Mr. Jones was employed with PRTC for nearly 15 years where he started as a bus operator, moved to dispatch, and finally became the supervisor of the Dispatch Department. Initially, the work environment was positive, supportive, and organized. Before Bob Schneider became the Executive Director, the Director of Planning, Eric Marks, served as the interim and maintained a positive, consistent rapport with staff members. In 2017, when Bob Schneider was appointed to the position Jones noticed that raises were not being distributed properly and were decreased without explanations, and the contract with First Transit negatively impacted PRTC.

The first issue began in 2008, during the economic recession. PRTC decided to cut costs by reducing bus routes in Manassas’ commuter routes and move the stop at Potomac Mills Mall to behind the jail in Manassas. They also proposed cuts to mall services in Manassas. Mr. Jones protested these reductions, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

The second issue arose in 2017 when Mr. Schneider decided to rift employees in the Dispatch and Customer Service Departments. That same year, Mr. Jones’ supervisor, Doris Lookabill, told him Schneider was turning Dispatch duties over to First Transit. She told Jones if he kept his people (The Dispatch employees) in line, they would create a position for him at First Transit. Jones believed only his department was being rifted, but later found out that the Quality Assurance Department was also being reduced. Mr. Jones also discovered that, in both the Dispatch Department and the Quality Assurance Department, only Persons of Color were being demoted or let go. In contrast, only white employees were receiving promotions or placed into new positions. At the time, the highest salary for a white employee was $95,000 a year while the highest salary for POC employees was only $48,000/year.

Bases on this report, in December 2017 an organized group of Dispatch and Quality Assurance employees attended a Prince William Board of County Supervisors’ meeting to express their grievances against PRTC. Jones even wrote a letter to the board. An Employment Opportunity Commission investigation was launched. For months following, dispatch workers and NAACP representatives attended board meetings and continuously presented evidence of discrimination and mistreatment.

In July of 2018, the EOC investigation ruled that there was no evidence of discrimination, but then Mr. Jones uncovered that the County’s Attorney’s Office was overseeing the EOC investigation at PRTC, therefore resulting in a conflict of interest. Unfortunately, a new EOC investigation was not conducted.

In 2018, Jones reported that a sexual assault occurred against a Black female temp employee at PRTC. Another sexual assault against a female security guard at First Transit occurred, but these incidences failed to impact the EOC investigation or raise the Board Members’ suspicions of PRTC. The September 2020 board meeting with X-Star Diversity and Inclusion report claimed that the sexual assaults happened before Bob Schneider become Executive Director and therefore the way they were handled were not “his fault.”

Between December 2017 and January 2018, employees’ sick leave hours had accumulated for the PRTC Dispatch employees. Doris Lookabill told Mr. Jones that employee leave days could be counted as sick leave. He agreed to this, but unfortunately did not have documentation of this new arrangement. Then, in November 2018, Human Resources noticed the sick leave change. They confronted Mr. Jones and claimed that this was a personnel violation. Lookabill claimed she was not a part of this payroll change and HR suspended Jones in December 2018. He was eventually terminated in Jan. 25, 2019, but Lookabill, who also approved the payroll alteration, was not punished or investigated.

He has continued to attend board meetings and protested the discrimination at PRTC. Mr. Jones also lists a number of other issues such as: the mismanagement of funds. Mr. Schneider has invested in unused office space, a quiet room that Bus Operators and Dispatchers aren’t even using and keeping the rifted dispatch and QA positions on the books, yet they don’t exist anymore.

Mr. Jones says he will continue to fight for what he believes is right, for better working conditions, and fair treatment for the employees at first transit. Lastly and most importantly, he refuses to be intimidated by PRTC and First Transit.

There will be more to this story as it develops.