The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Two MTA railroad employees fired amid allegations of misconduct
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority inspector general announced Monday that two employees have been terminated for “falsifying time sheets” in separate incidents.
MTA Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny found that a Metro-North Railroad employee brought a woman onto private company property for “an intimate rendezvous” while he was supposed to be working an overtime shift.
In a second, unrelated investigation, Pokorny found that a New York City Transit employee used sick time and Family Medical Leave Act time to travel to an Atlantic City casino.
“All bets are off for these unscrupulous former MTA employees,” Pokorny said in a statement released Monday morning. “Intentionally falsifying time sheets is stealing and can result in termination — whether it is using sick/ medical leave to gamble in Atlantic City or using overtime for an intimate rendezvous or 2+ hour lunches.”
“Taxpayers and riders should not have to ante up for such bad behavior,” she added.
Pokorny said the Metro-North employee “created a safety risk” when he brought a woman and her car on private property. She said the employee, who is identified only as “the Machinist” in the investigation report, was later
“dishonest” with investigators about the incident.
“The Machinist” resigned in the wake of the investigation, Pokorny said. Metro-North is “in the process of recouping money for the stolen time,” she added.
In the second incident, investigators found that a NYC Transit traffic checker had used sick and federal leave time “on multiple occasions” over two years to travel to go gambling in Atlantic City,
Pokorny said.
Pokorny said the traffic checker was later “dishonest” about the situation. He was later fired for the offense.