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Case: Same Accident, Different Perceptions According to the police report, on July 9 at 1.27p.m., bus number 3763 was involved in a minor noninjury accident. Upon arriving at the scene of the accident, police were unable to locate the driver of the bus. Since the bus was barely drivable, the passengers were transferred to a backup bus, and the damaged bus was returned to the city bus garage for repair.
The newly hired general manager, Aaron Moore, has been going over the police report and two additional reports. One of the additional reports was submitted by Jennifer Tye, the transportation director for the City Transit Authority (CTA), and the other came directly from the driver in the accident, Michael Meyer. According to Tye, although Michael has been an above-average driver for almost eight years, his performance has taken a drastic nosedive during the past fifteen months. Always one to join the other drivers for an afterwork drink or two, Michael recently has been suspected of drinking on the job. Furthermore, according to Tye’s report, Michael was seen having a beer in a tavern located less than two blocks from the CTA terminal around3 p.m.on the day of the accident. Tye’s report concludes by citing two sections of the CTA Transportation Agreement. Section18aspecifically forbids the drinking of alcoholic beverages by any CTA employee while on duty. Section26fprohibits drivers from leaving their buses unattended for any reason. Violation of either of the two sections results in automatic dismissal of the employee involved. Tye recommends immediate dismissal.
According to the driver, Michael Meyer, however, the facts are quite different. Michael claims that in attempting to miss a bicycle rider he swerved and struck a tree causing minor damage to the bus. Michael had been talking with the dispatcher when he was forced to drop his phone receiver in order to miss the bicycle. Since the receiver broke open on impact, Michael was forced to walk four blocks to the nearest phone to report the accident. Michael reports that when he returned to the scene of the accident, his bus was gone. Uncertain of what to do and a little frightened, he decided to return to the CTA terminal. Since it was over a 5-mile walk and because his shift had already ended at3 p.m., Michael stopped in for a quick beer just before going back to the terminal.
Question: Why are the two reports submitted by Jennifer and Michael so different?
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