Kin of PA worker bug victim is suing agency

The family of a veteran PATH transit worker who died from coronavirus in April is suing the Port Authority, alleging that negligence by top honchos contributed to his death.

Robert Elijah, a power rail mechanic with 19 years on the job, was admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms on April 3, roughly three weeks after he hugged a co-worker who later tested positive for the disease.

By April 5, he was transferred to the intensive care unit, where he remained on a ventilator until his death April 23. He was 61.

The lawsuit accuses Port Authority officials of a series of poor decisions that ultimately led to Elijah’s wrongful death.

The suit is the first in the nation to put the responsibility of a transit worker’s coronavirus death on their employer. Nationally, dozens of transit workers have succumbed to the disease since March, including at least 132 Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees.

Key among the mistakes laid out in the suit is a directive from PATH officials in early March for workers to not wear masks unless one was required for their specific jobs.

The bosses even removed masks from worker facilities as the pandemic began to spread, said Dave Ortiz, president of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 864, of which Elijah was a member.

“It was very chaotic in the workplace from the inception of all of this going on. We weren’t getting much clear direction from the Port Authority,” said Ortiz, who added that Elijah’s family is guaranteed a year’s salary via life insurance. His widow, Sheila, cannot collect on his retirement for another three years, when she turns 60.

The MTA in April guaranteed $500,000 for the families of transit workers who die from COVID-19, but such an offer has not been extended to Local 864 members, who have been without a contract since April 2012.

As a PATH worker, Elijah was covered by the Federal Employers

Liability Act, a 112-yearold law that guarantees compensation for railroad employees who are injured or killed on the job. Don Palermo, the attorney representing Elijah’s family, said Port Authority officials did not take proper protections.

“These guys are out there during the crisis providing transportation, they’re in these tunnels and all they’re asking for is basic protections,” said Palermo. “They’re not asking for the moon and the stars here. It’s not that PATH did nothing, but what they did do was the opposite of common sense.”

Palermo said PATH officials initially told Elijah that the COVID-19 test results for the colleague who exposed him to the disease “were lost.”

It was no surprise to Elijah’s son Nafiys, 37, that his dad may have contracted the virus by hugging someone.

“He loved to give these bear hugs,” said Nafiys. “It didn’t matter what kind of day you had. That bear hug would cure it.”

Nafiys said his family is devastated. Elijah (inset) left behind three children and 12 grandchildren, many of whom he provided for. Restrictions on visitors at hospitals during the pandemic prevented all of them from saying goodbye to him.

“My dad died alone,” said Nafiys. “No one was able to go inside and see him. My father was a loving man, but his family couldn’t even go in and let him know that we’re praying for him.”

Ortiz doesn’t think it had to be that way — and is calling for action from the Port Authority to prevent other workers from suffering the same fate as Elijah.

“When we demand testing, give us testing. I would like for upper managers and commissioners and politicians to actually listen. We were making suggestions about masks, about separating employees, but it was a month before they wound up doing those things,” said Ortiz. “Had those masks been out there. my friend might still be walking the Earth today.”

Port Authority officials called Elijah’s death a “tragedy,” but said they would not comment on pending litigation.