Unnamed NYC transit worker assigned to timekeeping unit falsified his own time shifts, MTA's Inspector General says

A Queens New York City Transit bus dispatcher charged with instructing colleagues how to properly clock in and out of work repeatedly violated procedures by leaving work early and falsifying time sheets, the MTA Inspector General said Tuesday.

Investigators in IG Daniel Cort’s office also found that other employees followed suit and also failed to clock out properly from their workday while the supervisor looked the other way, a report by the IG said.

The dispatcher, who was not identified, walked out of the Baisley Park Depot at least five times between March and June 2023 without clocking out of work, according to the IG’s report, shaving 11 hours. He also changed his shift hours on several occasions and falsified time sheets at least four times, investigators found. As a member of the Unified Timekeeping System unit, part of the dispatcher's job was to instruct other workers how to clock in and out of work, authorities said.

When confronted by the disparities, the dispatcher, who began in 1996 as a bus driver, "did not fully and honestly" answer the IG’s questions, according to the report.

He filed for retirement days after the report came out. His last day was April 14, according to MTA.

"This employee’s job was to advise colleagues about proper timekeeping, yet he repeatedly defrauded the MTA when it came to his own hours," Cort said in a statement. "His supervisor’s reliance on the honor system was clearly not a best practice."

The MTA did not dispute the claims in the investigation and vowed to stiffen their procedures for proper time reporting.

"This rogue employee, who is no longer with the agency, tried to steal from taxpayers instead of doing the right thing," MTA spokesman Michael Cortez said. "Management has been reinstructed on existing protocols designed to ensure this behavior does not occur again."

Neither the IG nor the MTA could say what the time theft cost the agency, but they said the employee has been reimbursing the transit agency.

The transit workers' union did not immediately return a request for comment.