A bus driver from Long Island broke down in tears after getting axed from her job of 15 years as she accidentally consumed an alcoholic drink while driving Smithtown High School West students home.
Amal Hanna, 60, told News 12 Long Island that she has lost her ability to taste due to her ongoing chemotherapy for cancer.
She also said that she thought she was drinking a regular fruit-flavored seltzer and not a White Claw hard seltzer.
Hanna said in tears: “I have been crying and crying, I don’t even have any more tears. It was just a mistake, it was a mistake.”
Because of the incident, she has lost her means of financial support.
“I’m frightened I’m going to be on the street because of a mistake,” she said.
She then showed another can that looks exactly like the alcoholic beverage, pointing out how the small warning about on the White Claw can could easily lead to a mistake.
“For people like me that don’t drink – how are they going to know this is alcohol?”
Even though she got fired from her job, the Suffolk County Police Department found her story credible and decided not to press charges against her.
Smithtown school district official maintained that Hanna “will no longer transport any Smithtown student.”
Superintendent of Schools for Smithtown Central School District Mark Secaur told the New York Post last week: “This alleged conduct is completely unacceptable, and the driver has been immediately removed.”
In a statement, Secaur said: “Our students’ safety is of the utmost importance to the Smithtown Central School District.
“We will remain steadfast in our efforts to create a safe environment for all our students.”
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