Former Pittsburgh Regional Transit employee suing union, says they failed to protect his job

PITTSBURGH — Two lawsuits have now been filed by former employees of Pittsburgh Regional Transit.

One is against the actual company, and another has been filed against the union which one ex-employee says did nothing to protect his job when he needed them the most.

“This was my career job. I went there so I could do my 30 years and retire but this put a big hiccup in it,” said Jonathan Lutz, who was terminated.

Lutz was terminated from Pittsburgh Regional Transit in March 2022. He says it came after his religious exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine was denied.

“Can you understand how stressful that can be on somebody? I have two children, I have a mortgage, bills just like everyone else,” Lutz explained.

While the company recently offered to bring those 80-plus fired workers back, Lutz says the union did not protect them.

“Our president was reading off the terms, no back pay, no vacation, all the stuff our grievances would cover stuff that we were so unjustly fired for would be given back to us,” said Lutz.

The lawsuit not only seeks damages but rips up the settlement agreement offering those jobs back.

While he’s the first to file, Lutz is seeking a class action status to bring on more ex-employees in the suit.

“I thought that’s why you paid unions to protect your job. To do the things you shouldn’t have to do, to fight the battles you shouldn’t have to,” Lutz said.

11 News reached out to the leaders at the transit union for comment about this pending litigation, and at the time of this publication, we have not heard back.

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