'In The Wrong Profession'

Bus Driver Fired for Saving Toad

A bus driver in the German city of Regensburg has lost her job after she stopped her vehicle to save a toad in the road and a passenger complained to her boss about the delay. Animal rights activists have come out in support of the driver.

Save a toad and lose your job?

Regensburg is an idyllic German city straight out of a fairy tale, complete with its own princess and castle. But a recent fairy tale in the city didn't have the usual happy ending. When a bus driver stopped her vehicle to save a toad in the road, instead of getting a prince she got a pink slip from the company she drives for.

According to a report in the Regensburg-based newspaperMittelbayerische Zeitung, 46-year-old bus driver Christina P. stopped her vehicle after sighting a toad in the headlines. She got out of the bus and moved the toad off the road. "I couldn't just flatten it," Christina P., who is French, told the paper.

But after a passenger complained to her boss, she was served her walking papers. Christina P.'s boss, apparently the wicked witch in this story, told the newspaper that the bus driver was in the wrong profession. "If my bus is already late, the mood on the bus is already tense and then I go and start gathering toads, then I have to ask myself whether this is the right job for me," he said.

The incident happened on March 28. According to the paper, it was a cold and rainy day and the bus driver was already 20 minutes late on her route when she stopped for the toad. The newspaper also reported the bus driver suffered from a nervous breakdown after getting fired.

Animal rights activists, however, have expressed their support for the bus driver, saying she saved a toad that belongs to an endangered species.

In the meantime, the negative publicity surrounding Christina P.'s termination has been so intense in the German media that the newspaper reports the bus company has now left a back door open for Christina P.'s possible return to the job.

On Wednesday, the head of the bus company sought to distance himself from comments made by P.'s supervisor, saying there had been previous complaints about the bus driver's performance and that he regretted any suggestion the toad incident may have cost P. her job. He added that Christina P. might be able to get her job back -- if she changed her behavior.

dsl