TriMet's Background Check Missed Bus Driver Dan Martin's Criminal Record
Last week's issue of
WW
included
a story about the criminal record of
Daniel Lee Martin, a 16-year
veteran
TriMet driver and current executive board member for the
Amalgamated
Transit Union Local 757. The story raised questions about how much the agency
knew about Martin’s past.
Martin (who's currently running for the local's vice
presidency) told WW that TriMet knew
about his criminal record, which includes convictions for second-degree
sex abuse and stealing Social Security disability benefits.
TriMet officials said that at the time the agency hired Martin, TriMet had not yet begun doing routine background checks on new
employees. On Tuesday, TriMet
corrected the record, informing
WW that background checks were conducted
in 1998, but were “less robust” than those performed since 2000. TriMet
spokeswoman
Roberta Altstadt also said that records indicated Martin underwent
a background check when he was hired.
TriMet has since released the records from Martin's
1998 background check. The record indicates that TriMet limited its
search to
misdemeanor and felony records in the Multnomah County Circuit Court for
seven
years leading up Martin’s application date in 1998. Martin’s
background check came back clean.
The search
didn't check Martin's record under his previous name, Daniel Lee Overby,
nor did it pick up his 1985 conviction in Tillamook County to sex abuse
after he admitted having sex with an underaged girl.
Martin has continued to work for TriMet since 1998. In 2006,
he pleaded guilty in
U.S. District Court to illegally receiving $78,000 in Social Security disability
payments for three years while employed at TriMet.
