Watchdog Reports
Milwaukee County transit worker intervenes in fight — and lands in unemployment line
Gary Porter
"If your wife or daughter were being attacked and was asking for help, wouldn't you want someone to step in and help?" asks Bill Bierman of Cedarburg, who lost his job as a supervisor with the Milwaukee County Transit System.
When Milwaukee County bus route supervisor William H. Bierman Jr. saw an apparently intoxicated man battering a young woman on a city street, Bierman decided to act.
Bierman broke up the pair but only after being slugged twice by the man, who was cited by Milwaukee police.
Just another good Samaritan?
Not in the eyes of Bierman's bosses.
Less than two weeks after the incident, the Milwaukee County Transit System fired Bierman.
"You acted outside the scope of your employment as a route supervisor, compromised your own safety and exposed your employer to potential liability and its image and reputation to potential harm," states Bierman's Oct. 17 termination letter.
In fact, the situation is likely to lead to litigation.
Only it's Bierman who is planning to file suit. He has hired an attorney and is looking to sue the county transit system and the company that operates the bus system, Milwaukee Transport Services, for wrongful termination.
"I guess I'm supposed to act like nothing was happening," Bierman said in a recent interview. "Don't be a human. Don't be a citizen."
Officials with the transit system are not talking about the matter.
"MCTS does not publicly respond to personnel matters," said Jacqueline Janz, spokeswoman for the Milwaukee County Transit System.
Bierman, 47, worked for the transit system for nine years — three as a driver and the last six as a route supervisor. In that job, he was one of 14 supervisors who were supposed to keep the buses running on time.
On Oct. 6, he was supervising buses on the near south side when one broke down near S. 2nd St. and W. National Ave.
While waiting for a replacement bus to arrive, Bierman said, he heard a young woman screaming for help.
Across the street, he said he saw the apparently intoxicated man, later identified as Ruben Alcantar, grabbing the young woman by her hair, wrenching her arm and calling her a stream of curse words. Bierman said he yelled at Alcantar to let the woman go, but Alcantar refused, shouting a profanity in response.
Bierman said he then tried to call police dispatch, but the radio in his company car wouldn't work.
"Those radios are garbage," he said when recounting the incident. Bus supervisors are not allowed to carry or use cellphones while on the job. He left his in his lunch box that day.
Unable to reach the police, Bierman got out of the Ford Escape to help the woman.
Alcantar charged Bierman, pushing the bus route supervisor twice and punching him in the chest a couple of times. Bierman — who stands 6 feet, 2 inches and weighs 240 pounds — said he grabbed the shorter and lighter Alcantar by his hands to keep him from grabbing any possible weapon. But Alcantar pulled away and ran up the street.
"I didn't want to detain him," Bierman said. "I'm not a cop."
In general, the version of events Bierman gave the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is consistent with what he wrote in his transit report and with what he told police, who arrived at the scene shortly after the incident. There is one difference: Police reported that Bierman accidentally knocked off Alcantar's earring; Bierman denied that.
According to the police report, the young woman said Alcantar is her boyfriend and that she started the disturbance. The report said she spotted Alcantar at a bar with another woman, so she poured beer on the pair, prompting her boyfriend to chase her down the street.
Reached by police a day later, Alcantar described Bierman as the aggressor, the police report says. Alcantar acknowledged having had three beers before the incident. He also couldn't remember the correct time of the confrontation.
Alcantar — who could not be reached for comment — was cited for disorderly conduct. He failed to show up for his Nov. 27 court appearance, so a municipal judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
Two days after the incident, transit system officials notified Bierman that he was suspended for three days without pay pending an internal investigation. Shortly thereafter, it became an indefinite suspension.
Throughout the investigation, Bierman said, he was never asked to give his side of the story.
On Oct. 17, two transit officials notified Bierman that he was being fired for violating company policies. He said he was asked to sign a resignation letter in exchange for two weeks of health insurance and an agreement by transit officials not to challenge his unemployment compensation.
He refused.
His termination letter accuses Bierman of interjecting himself in a possible domestic dispute and violating company policy by failing to contact police. His actions, the letter said, put the metro transit system at risk.
"It boils down to this: We could have been sued over this," Bierman said.
According to personnel records provided by Bierman, he has missed work only once during his nine years while receiving many commendations, including two in the past year.
Bierman had one mark on his record.
In April, he was accused of yelling and threatening to reprimand a bus driver over how to respond to a sleeping passenger, something Bierman disputed. He was warned not to repeat his behavior.
Bierman's spirits were buoyed last week when state officials awarded him unemployment benefits. The state Department of Workforce Development found no proof that Bierman was guilty of misconduct.
Soon, Bierman hopes to begin his legal fight to get his job back.
"I think I did the right thing," he said. "I know I did the right thing."
Like father, like son
Matt Walker has inherited his father's political gene.
The elder son of Gov. Scott Walker announced last week that he is running for chairman of the Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans. He has set up a Facebook page and published a five-paragraph platform in preparation for the Jan. 25 election.
Asked earlier this week about his son's campaign, the first-term Republican governor smiled and said, "He can speak for himself."
Sure enough.
Already a regional vice president for the College Republicans, Matt Walker said via an email exchange that he is running for the top state post because he wants to "rally young people for the Republican Party."
The 19-year-old Marquette University sophomore doesn't mention his father in his platform. A picture of the governor with a group of College Republicans does appear at the top of Matt Walker's campaign Facebook page. There are no other announced candidates for the statewide job.
"I'm sure that it will benefit me that I am the son of a governor," said Matt Walker, a political science major. "Yet, I hope that people understand that I'm not just the governor's son, but that I'm someone who will work diligently and be a worthy leader for the WICRs."
This isn't Matt Walker's first foray into politics.
In 2011, he was elected governor of Badger Boys State, a leadership program that his father once attended. In May, he became co-chairman of his campus chapter of the College Republicans, a group his father led more than 20 years ago.
No matter how he does in next month's election, it's clear that Matt Walker wants to follow in his father's footsteps — at least in some manner.
"I want to go into politics, yet I'm not sure how," he said in his email. "There are so many different ways to get involved."
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.
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