7 LIRR workers assaulted by passengers suing railroad

Seven current or former Long Island Rail Road employees who say they were assaulted by train passengers are suing the LIRR, alleging the railroad’s "negligence, carelessness and recklessness" led to them being attacked.

The federal lawsuits, filed by six train conductors and one station cleaner, each seek damages ranging from $2 million to $20 million, and stem from six separate incidents between 2021 and 2023.

The majority of the incidents grew out of disputes over collecting fares, according to Philip Dinhofer, the Rockville Centre attorney representing the five men and two women suing the railroad.

Of the seven workers, five remain employed by the LIRR, one resigned and one retired, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the LIRR’s parent organization.

"The interactions between the uniformed train crews who are assigned to collect fares and the general public is risky to begin with. And the railroad is not doing enough to protect its employees," Dinhofer said in an interview Thursday.

Asked about the lawsuits, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said the transit authority “will never compromise on employee safety."

"The agency has extensive safety protocols designed to protect employees and customers during active service in our 24/7 rail system," Donovan said. "If any employee finds themselves in a situation where they feel unsafe, they are encouraged to contact the MTA police for assistance.”

Injuries alleged

Dinhofer said his clients suffered injuries from the attacks, including brain trauma, nerve damage, hearing loss and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The plaintiffs include a female conductor who was pregnant when she was "grabbed, sexually groped and/or assaulted and battered by a drunk male passenger" while trying to collect his fare on board a train near Wyandanch on Aug. 20, 2022, according to court records.

"I tried to walk away and he followed me into the next car," the conductor said in an affidavit. "We were told that police would meet the train at Jamaica, however the suspect got off the train at Bethpage Station." Newsday does not name alleged victims of sexual assault without their consent.

Police arrested the passenger, Huntington Station resident Michael Harewood, who later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual abuse charges. Under a new state law, Harewood also was banned from the MTA system for two years. When he again boarded an LIRR train weeks later, Harewood was arrested a second time on criminal contempt and trespassing charges.

Court records show Harewood since has been arrested by MTA police at least two more times. Brian Schatz, a spokesman for the Queens Defenders, which represents Harewood, declined to comment.

In legal filings, the conductor said she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and other "psychological injuries" because of the incident. Her lawsuit seeks $12 million in damages from the LIRR.

Attorney wants cops on trains, 'panic buttons'

According to the suit, the LIRR "knew that the frequency of such incidents of assaults upon its uniformed train crew members was increasing significantly" but still failed to provide "a safe place to work and/or safe tools, equipment and/or personnel with which to work," including by providing "safe and proper police personnel."

"There are measures that could be taken that have not yet been taken that should be properly explored by the railroad, rather than just telling people to disengage and to try and retreat," said Dinhofer, who mentioned several potential options to help protect train crews, including putting a cop on every train and equipping employees with devices like a "panic button" that would allow them to quickly summon police assistance.

"Every one of these conductors tells me that ... nobody has communicated with them to tell them what they have to do to have a safe workplace, how to protect themselves," Dinhofer said.

The MTA has stepped up police patrols aboard LIRR trains in recent years, especially on routes where fare evasion is more pervasive, agency officials have said.

The other plaintiffs include conductors Elizabeth Guidice, Noel O'Connell, Joseph Maldari, Patrick Flynn and Raymond Wong, and station maintainer Nicholas Perri. Their attorney, Dinhofer, said they declined to comment.

The suits, which were filed between July 2022 and July of this year in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, come as the MTA has said it has taken several measures to address the growing problem of fare evasion throughout its system, and the violence against transit workers that can stem from it.

LIRR conductors last year issued about 160,000 invoices to passengers who said they could not pay for their rides — up about 60% from the previous year, according to MTA data obtained by Newsday.

The MTA has in recent years made an effort to crack down on fare evasion, which MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber has called an "existential threat," costing the transit authority $700 million annually.

Newsday reported in June that the LIRR’s crime rate in 2023 reached its highest point in at least 18 years, including an increase in assaults. Of the 45 assaults last year, 19 were against MTA employees, the transit authority has said. 

Through August of this year, there were 38 assaults on the LIRR, up from 28 during the same period last year, according to MTA police statistics. MTA officials would not say how many assaults this year targeted LIRR workers.

Addressing the lawsuits, Anthony Simon, who heads the union representing LIRR conductors and station cleaners, said the workers "have the right to be made whole." 

"None of our members became conductors expecting to face physical assaults. They were neither trained nor equipped to handle such abuse," Simon, general chairman of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, said in a statement. 

To address fare evasion, MTA police have said they’ve deployed more officers onto LIRR trains that frequently have fare disputes while instituting a policy last year of having police automatically remove any passenger who refuses to pay a fare. Under the previous system, police officers could make the decision to let a passenger complete their trip.

Addressing reporters on Oct. 9, hours after Myran Pollack, a 31-year subway conductor, was repeatedly stabbed by a passenger on board a 4 train in Brooklyn, Lieber, the MTA leader, pleaded for judges to do their part to keep dangerous criminals out of the transit system, including by more frequently banning violent offenders from using it. Pollack’s alleged attacker, Jonathan Davalos, had 14 prior arrests, and had been previously convicted of attacking a transit worker, according to the MTA.

"We’re doing our part, working with the unions," Lieber said. "We’re giving the criminal justice system the tools. We need them to use them."

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.