4 LIRR workers disciplined for time theft, swiping each other out

The Long Island Rail Road has disciplined four employees who investigators said were routinely swiping each other out at time clocks to cover their co-workers leaving work early, according to a new report.

The report issued Thursday from the office of Metropolitan Transportation Authority Inspector General Daniel Cort involves three LIRR electricians and one car repairman who all worked out of the railroad’s Hillside Maintenance Complex in Queens. None were named.

The probe, which began in August 2024, followed a tip about a worker, identified only as "Electrician 1," who was repeatedly leaving work "before completing overtime shifts and yet was still swiped out at the end of the tours," according to the report.

Surveillance video showed another electrician alone near a time clock when "Electrician 1” and a car repairman both had their time cards swiped "within seconds of each other" to record the end of their shifts, according to the report.

LIRR President Rob Free said in a statement: “Stealing time is offensive to every hardworking employee at the MTA and will not be tolerated. The LIRR has taken strong action against those involved in this case and recouped compensation to the fullest extent possible."

Jeffrey Klein, assistant general chairman of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 589, the union representing LIRR electricians, said his organization does “not condone any of the activities alleged” in the report. But, he added that some of the allegations “are extremely speculative and are replete with assumptions not founded in fact.”

Klein also noted that investigators could not determine who supervised “Electrician 1” when he left early and were told by LIRR officials that there was no record of that information.

“Management should be held accountable as well,” Klein said in a statement. “The fact that the LIRR has no record of the supervisors charged with overseeing these individuals is alarming.”

The investigation, which Cort’s office said is part of a broader probe "into time abuse and fraudulent timekeeping records at LIRR facilities," unearthed several instances of the four unidentified workers committing time abuse "and falsifying records to cover up the misconduct," according to the report. Each of the men "made various admissions of wrongdoing," Cort's office said.

"This was a coordinated effort by Long Island Rail Road employees to abuse the timekeeping system and cut hours off their shifts without any apparent fear of repercussions," Cort said in a statement. "But this kind of fraud won’t be tolerated. I thank LIRR management for bringing this matter to our attention."

Investigators were unable to determine the total amount paid to the LIRR employees for unworked time. "Electrician 1” retired during the investigation, but was forced to pay back eight hours of overtime that he did not earn, and was not reimbursed for unused sick time, according to Cort’s office. The three other LIRR workers received varying suspensions, ranging from four months to nine months, according to the report.

The case is the latest of many in recent years accusing current and former LIRR workers of wage theft. Unusually high overtime spending at the MTA in 2018 led to several investigations, and the conviction of four LIRR workers on fraud charges.

To help curb wage theft, the MTA in 2019 spent $37 million to install a biometric time clock system that would required employees to scan their fingers to record the beginning and end of their work days. But the MTA suspended the finger-scanning requirement months later out of sanitary concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Without the finger-scanning requirement, other allegations of wage theft surfaced, including against a foreman who resigned in October following charges that he used an unauthorized duplicate LIRR employee ID card to have co-workers punch him in and out of work even when he was home.

The MTA reinstated the time clock finger-scanning requirement in September.

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.