Exactly one month from the morning her bike was mangled by a bus in downtown Minneapolis, Nicole Lindgren got to pick out a brand new electric blue Trek Navigator. I wrote about Lindgren's struggle with the bus company's insurer in the Whistleblower column Sunday.
First thing Monday morning, she got a call from Bill Forbord, operations manager for Schmitty and Sons Transit Service. Last week, he told me it was ridiculous that Lindgren has had to go for a month without her main mode of transportation. Even though he felt his company had acted appropriately by investigating the incident and subsequently firing the driver, he knew it wasn't enough.
So Forbord took matters into his own hands. He bought Lindgren the bike, a new helmet and a rack so she can cart her groceries.
"He did more than his share of the work and I'm thankful," Lindgren said. "A lot of people wouldn't be willing to do anything."
Lindgren is still waiting for Schmitty and Sons' insurance company to pay her hospital bills and the wages she lost after she was slightly injured, but she is hopeful the situation will be resolved soon.
How did she feel when she got on her new bike? "Out of shape."
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