MTA should crack down on LIRR wage theft, time sheet fraud

The Long Island Rail Road foreman accused of falsifying his timekeeping records and lying about it is just the latest example of attempts by LIRR employees to exploit weaknesses within the LIRR and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority personnel management systems to their own advantages. 

Fifteen years ago, more than two dozen LIRR employees were prosecuted in a disability fraud scandal, in which workers received disability pensions even while they were playing golf or racing bicycles. Three years ago, former LIRR chief measurement officer Thomas Caputo pleaded guilty to charges he billed the LIRR for false overtime incurred while he was bowling or sleeping.

Now, an unnamed LIRR gang foreman admitted to the MTA's inspector general that he obtained an unauthorized second LIRR time card, which his colleagues used to swipe him in when he wasn't working. The foreman accrued a total of 14 unauthorized absences between November 2022 and January 2023, amounting to a theft of nearly $3,200 over three months. Eventually the dollar amount adds up, especially if there are others in on the scheme as well.

LIRR president Rob Free rightly points out that the vast majority of the LIRR's 7,500 employees follow the law, act appropriately and do their jobs well. The railroad's on-time performance and other metrics show improvement; That's important. Free also told the editorial board he is "leading by example," as someone who came up through the LIRR's ranks and models good behavior.

The LIRR removed the foreman without pay as of July. The employee, who remains unnamed, resigned in October. The MTA also added cameras and is instituting midday check-ins and unannounced manager visits. That should help.

But the MTA's response can't stop there. Employees who colluded in the fraud must be investigated and disciplined and authorities should consider referring this wage theft to district attorneys for prosecution. Moreover, the MTA must address the larger culture that permits such behavior. The inspector general's report said other LIRR employees also were using unauthorized duplicate cards and that "is the subject of another ongoing inquiry." 

The MTA had biometric scanner systems that require fingerprint sign-ins ready to go five years ago, but delayed their implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those systems finally were put into operation this summer, and should prevent the specific scheme of using duplicate cards or swiping for a fellow worker. 

There will always be people trying to beat the system. The MTA and the LIRR must establish an environment where no one thinks such behavior is permissible.

As the MTA is about to start charging drivers to travel below 60th Street in Manhattan and is trying to tackle fare evasion and crime in its trains and buses, LIRR employees must do better.  The MTA needs to show it takes worker wrongdoing seriously, makes examples of those who commit or assist in such fraud and establishes a systemic culture in which such crimes are not tolerated.