He’s back as MTA supervisor despite racist online post

An MTA employee suspended last year over a racially charged social media post was reinstated as a supervisor last month despite efforts by transit honchos to fire him.

Subway line superintendent Jason Brown — who oversaw delivery of some subway passenger service — was taken off the job last June after he commented online about protests surrounding the death of George Floyd.

“Remember white people: Your sole purpose during this time is to protest people of color while they’re destroying the city. Obey. Submit,” Brown, who is white, posted to Facebook on June 2.

It was the latest in a string of racially charged activity dating back to at least 2013, when he appeared to support George Zimmerman, the Florida man who killed Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old Black boy, a year prior.

Brown’s union, the United Transit Leadership Organization, forced the MTA into arbitration and later fought in court to block the agency’s effort to terminate him from his job.

Brown was allowed to return to work as a train operator — a demotion — on Aug. 26, officials said.

After an arbitrator and Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Eileen Rakower both found Brown’s posts did not “violate public policy,” he was allowed to return to work as a supervisor on March 7, officials said.

“The MTA has no tolerance for racism. We brought charges against this employee for posting racial content to social media, and sought to terminate him,” said MTA spokesman Ken Lovett.

“We believe we should be able to terminate employees for racist behavior and postings, and will continue to seek the authority to do so,” Lovett said.

Brown was moved last week to a position as a supervisor of subway work trains used for maintenance and construction. The job requires less interaction with subway operators and conductors, a majority of whom are people of color.

MTA officials said the job change did not constitute a promotion.