An Atlanta Public Schools bus driver, who previously left a job with MARTA after a troubled work history there, resigned his APS post after he was arrested for allegedly making sexual comments to an 11-year-old student.
Ricky Williams, 58, faces a charge of enticing a child for indecent purposes in Superior Court of Fulton County following an incident reported late last month to APS police. Online court records do not indicate if a plea has been entered.
Neither Williams nor an attorney listed in court records as his representative could be reached for comment.
APS said Williams was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the police investigation. He resigned shortly after, according to APS.
“The district has procedures in place to remove employees from their worksite once there is evidence of potential wrongdoing affecting student or staff safety,” the district’s statement said.
Before he was hired by APS, Williams worked for MARTA and was investigated by the transit agency for sexual harassment and for allegedly altering an employee’s time card. That work history was first reported by Channel 2 Action News.
“To confirm, there were sexual harassment allegations against Williams during his employment that were substantiated and he was disciplined. His employment ended when it was discovered he altered an employee’s time card so that they were paid for time not worked,” said MARTA spokeswoman Stephany Fisher in an email.
According to MARTA records provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a transit agency employee filed a complaint in 2015 against Williams alleging he sexually harassed her and made inappropriate comments to her. The complaint came after Williams had already received workplace counseling on sexual harassment, according to an internal memo.
Williams denied that he harassed the woman after he went through a counseling session, according to MARTA records. Internal documents state he acknowledged he engaged in inappropriate behavior in the workplace prior to that counseling.
MARTA’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion recommended that Williams be suspended without pay for 30 days and “be given a final warning,” documents state.
In 2019, Williams faced another investigation by MARTA, this time over an allegation that he made inappropriate changes to another employee’s time card.
Williams told MARTA officials he put time information into the system because the employee was having trouble with it being entered properly. Williams also “noted that he would not pad anyone’s time because he knows that his name is stamped into the system,” records state.
Fisher said Williams “decided to retire early” after that investigation “revealed he was altering the timesheet of an employee resulting in that employee being paid for time they did not work.”
In the APS incident, reported by the school system’s police department on Sept. 28, Williams allegedly made sexual comments to an 11-year-old student. A police report states the comments were captured on video from the district’s transportation department.
The district said in a statement that when hiring bus drivers, officials check the applicant’s license and motor vehicle record and also conduct other checks included in the standard hiring process.
That includes written and verbal references, a review of state standards commission records and an FBI fingerprint criminal history background check, which would turn up previous arrests or convictions.
“Atlanta Public Schools takes the responsibility of hiring employees very seriously and works hard to ensure the safety of students and staff in our schools,” the statement said. “All of these measures were followed in the hiring of this former employee.”
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