The 24-year-old Boston trolley driver who allegedly was texting his girlfriend when he slammed into another trolley last week was hired as a minority because of his transgender status, according to a state transportation official.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman Joe Pesaturo told ABC News that there was "nothing unusual" in the hiring of Alden Quinn, and that he was picked out of a hiring lottery in 2004.
Another MBTA source said, "Quinn was initially hired as a minority and used her transgender status," ABC News reported.
The driver, originally known as Georgia Quinn, underwent a female-to-male sex change and switched the sexual designation on his driver's license, FOX News has confirmed.
Per Massachusetts law, applicants must provide medical records confirming a gender change for the status to be reflected in official documents, said Anne Dufresne, public relations director for the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.
Quinn may face criminal charges and has already been suspended from work for his role in the crash that injured 50 people Friday night, when his car ran a red light. Quinn suffered a broken wrist, and some passengers had to be evacuated from the scene of the accident on stretchers, MyFOXBoston reported.
Quinn could be fired as early as Tuesday for allegedly violating the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority's rules against using cell phones while operating a trolley, the Boston Herald reported.
He admitted to police that he was sending text messages to his girlfriend from his cell phone when the accident occurred, MBTA general manager Daniel A. Grabauskas told the paper.
Registry records show that Quinn has received three speeding tickets since 2002 and was held partly responsible for a car accident in 2008, according to the Herald. But because he did not receive all three tickets in one year he was still eligible to work as a trolley operator, the Herald reported.
Quinn was also suspended for one day in April 2008 for an "attendance issue," but has an otherwise clean disciplinary record, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo told the paper.
Damages from the accident are expected to top $9 million dollars, according to the MBTA.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox