Bus Driver Who Threw Uppercut Heard 'Round the World Fired

Artis Hughes was informed he would no longer be working for the Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

Since Artis Hughes wanted to uppercut Shi'Dea Lane like a man, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority decided to fire him like one.

Hughes, the man behind the notorious "uppercut heard 'round the world," was terminated from his position on Tuesday morning for "violating the company’s rules of conduct," according to Cleveland.com. But really, it was for uppercutting a young woman in the face and then having a video of the incident go viral.

[ALSO READ: Cleveland Uppercut Victim Asks of Driver: Are You Serious?]

Witnesses say that Lane spit on Hughes, but Cleveland's Regional Transit Authority decided that was not justification enough to let him keep his job. In the video, Hughes is clearly seen hitting Lane with a mean uppercut to the jaw after a verbal altercation. He then forcibly removed her from the bus and choked her when she came back onboard. (A video of the incident can be seen here for old time's sake.)

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority spokeswoman Mary Shaffer, via Cleveland.com, had this to sat of Hughes’ actions: “The employee handbook says an employee can be discharged if he uses overt force, strikes … a member of the public,” she said. “We understand he feels that his actions were in self-defense, but we disagree. The appropriate action should have been to pull over the bus and alert transit police and let them handle it.”

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