Odd job suit against MTA
A former MTA worker who confessed to pocketing his dead mom’s government benefits is suing to get his job back — arguing that there’s “no direct relationship between his criminal offense and the employment sought.”
In June, Mark Hodge, 60, a former subway-car inspector, apologized profusely to a sympathetic judge to avoid jail time.
“I made a mistake,” he told The Post from his Queens home Thursday.
“I worked for transit for 11 years. I never took a day off. I saved two lives — fellow co-workers who had no vital signs — I resuscitated them,” he said.
Hodge was sentenced to a year of probation, which he served, for collecting $154,000 of his late mom’s Social Security, Veterans, and US Office of Personnel Management benefits following her 1999 death.
He says he never withdrew the funds — and repaid them in full — so he wants the MTA to hire him back.
“I have four children, the youngest of whom is 10,” he said. “I have a mortgage and a family and I need my job.”
Hodge’s attorney, Arthur Schwartz said, “He caused the authority no damage. The termination and the refusal to bring him was violative of public policy in New York.”
Hodge added, “They knew I didn’t spend the funds and they got it all back. I didn’t sign any checks . . . It wasn’t my intention to put my family through this process.”
He’s also suing for back pay, including lost pension and health-care benefits.
An MTA spokesman declined to comment.