For 17 years, Damien Tabard drove children through the rural roads around Les Billanges in central France.
Then a new operator took over the school-bus contract in 2022. A new GPS system revealed something Tabard said had previously been tolerated: he was sometimes stopping outside children’s homes instead of using only the official stops.
One 12-year-old girl otherwise had to walk about 650 meters in darkness along a road with no pavement or street lighting. Her mother had twice asked authorities for a new stop and been refused. Tabard said his stops were on the existing route and that he made them for safety.
His employer disagreed, calling them unauthorized. After warnings to stop, the company dismissed him for serious misconduct. Parents rallied behind him. Tabard challenged the dismissal, but a court ruled against him, finding that he had disobeyed his employer’s instructions.