Diaper Odor Gets Mom, Sick Baby Kicked Off Seattle Bus

A woman is complaining to Seattle’s Metro Transit after a driver kicked her off a bus because of her baby’s diaper odor.

The woman, Nichole Hakimian, was taking her one-year-old son to a clinic on Tuesday because he was sick, but the bus driver forced her off of the bus after the sick baby had diarrhea, reports The Seattle Times. Hakimian stated:

“He had just pooped in his diaper as soon as I got on, because he was having diarrhea. And right after that, she told me I had to get off the bus.”

Hakimian asked why she had to exit the bus. The driver replied, “Your baby, he smells really bad, and it’s not fair that we all have to smell that.”

Despite the fact that she explained her young son was sick and that she was on her way to a doctor’s appointment for him, the driver stopped the bus and let the young mother out about a half mile away from the clinic.

The Washington Post notes that the mother, who is four months pregnant, was able to find a nearby place to change her baby’s diaper, then caught another bus to the clinic, where she learned that her baby was suffering from a stomach bug.

Nichole Hakimian has since complained to Metro about the driver kicking her and her sick baby off of the bus. King County transit agency spokesman Jeff Switzer stated:

“Based on reports, this appears to be a very unique situation. Our goal is always to balance the comfort of all of our riders with providing good customer service. We are investigating the complaint, and will get a report from the driver to confirm what happened and that proper procedures were followed.”

When speaking about the bus ride, the mother who was kicked off the bus over her son’s diaper odor stated, “I feel like I was being discriminated against and bullied. And it made me feel like crap. It really did.”

Do you think the bus driver was right to kick Nichole Hakimian off of the Seattle bus for her son’s diaper odor, or should transportation authorities be more understanding?