MARCUS JEAN says he’s been caught up in the anti-immigrant hysteria that’s swept the nation since September 11. His former employer says he plotted what could have been a deadly act of terrorism — bombing a company building. The story might sound like a he-said-they-said dispute. But it has come to epitomize the potential injustices faced by immigrants in the post-September 11 atmosphere.
On January 31, Jean, a Haitian immigrant who has worked as a school-bus driver in Boston, had an argument with his boss over a parking matter at the Laidlaw Corporation bus terminal in Readville, located near Hyde Park. Voices were raised. Words were exchanged. Jean even went so far as to charge terminal manager Richard McLaughlin with discrimination. The brief conversation ended in Jean’s suspension. And the story might have ended then, too, were it not for what occurred several hours later. Unbeknownst to Jean, his manager went to the Boston Police Department, where he filed a criminal complaint on behalf of Laidlaw alleging that Jean had made terrorist threats against the company — to wit, he’d "threatened to blow up the building."
Prosecutors have charged Jean with "threats to commit a crime" under a Massachusetts statute that dates back to 1836. Although he hasn’t been charged under the federal legislation passed in the wake of September 11 (which reclassifies some domestic groups as "terrorist"), Jean and his growing cadre of supporters, from fellow bus drivers to immigrant-rights advocates, believe the changed sociopolitical landscape since the terrorist attacks has influenced his case. Laidlaw officials have even cited the tragedy as reason to prosecute Jean. In complaints like this, which don’t involve felony charges, the aggrieved party must go before a court clerk, who determines probable cause. When McLaughlin appeared at West Roxbury District Court on March 15 to argue the company’s complaint, he invoked the attacks by saying, "Post-9/11, we really have to be careful," according to Boston attorney Barry Wilson, who represents Jean. Three other courtroom observers, all of them members of United Steel Workers of America (USWA) Local 8751, which represents 800 or so Laidlaw bus drivers including Jean, have verified the account. McLaughlin’s rationale convinced Jean and his colleagues that Laidlaw is exploiting today’s intolerant, law-and-order climate to retaliate against a driver who, at worst, mouthed off to his boss.
Laidlaw officials are quick to dismiss the September 11 connection. The company’s director of human resources, Jack Reilly, insists Laidlaw’s complaint has "nothing to do with September 11," although he says he has "no knowledge" of the March 15 probable-cause hearing. He maintains that the only reason Laidlaw is pressing charges against Jean is to thwart workplace violence. "If a threat was made, we have an obligation to take it seriously," he says. "This has to do with acting responsibly to protect all employees."
Maybe so. But there’s little doubt that, were it not for September 11, Laidlaw’s complaint would probably have been tossed out by now. At the March 15 proceeding, McLaughlin and another company official presented no eyewitness testimony to corroborate the charges against Jean. Wilson and the three union officials who were present have told the Phoenix that the court clerk wondered aloud about its veracity. In the end, though, the clerk expressly stated that, "in light of 9/11," he could not be too careful about an alleged terrorist threat — thus continuing Jean’s case. Wilson suspects that the complaint, which he calls "a play upon our paranoia post-9/11," would have had no credibility were it heard September 10, 2001. "These days, everyone seems paranoid about blown-up buildings," he says. "Apparently, you can accuse someone of trying to blow up a building and, all of a sudden, he’s in the middle of a circus."
