A school bus driver of 20 years is suing the Mariposa Unified School District in federal court, claiming she was the victim of race and age discrimination and a hostile work environment.
Tamela Qualls, 61, who is African American, said she had an “unblemished safety record” and was Bus Driver of the Year in 2016.
In a lawsuit filed March 11, Qualls claims she was fired Aug. 20, 2025, based on “pretext and false allegation.”
The firing resulted from an incident a year ago, on Feb. 13, 2025, when a special education student was left alone on the bus for about 16 minutes.
Qualls said the bus was parked in a secured lot and the child was not in danger.
The school district reported the violation to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), which suspended Qualls’ Commercial Driver’s License, “taking away her means to make a living that sustained her and her family for 20 plus years,” the lawsuit said.
Qualls claims the district failed to maintain the required California Child Check System, an alarm at the rear of the bus that requires drivers to walk through the bus to turn it off, presumably checking all the seats for children in the process.
She told the district about the malfunction, even wrote a letter to the superintendent, she said, but the district failed to repair the system and coerced her into driving a malfunctioning school bus.
Qualls said she was called the “n-word,” although the circumstances are not presented in any detail in the lawsuit and its not clear who used the slur.
After first refusing to help, her union steward said they would “handle it,” but was dismissive of the episode, and said the person who used the slur was “most likely singing a rap song.”
Qualls contends younger, non-minority drivers, with less exemplary records committed similar or more serious errors, and were not terminated or reported to DMV.
The district would not comment on the federal lawsuit or any disciplinary actions.
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