LIRR president Helena Williams does not agree with measures the Railroad Retirement Board is taking to better oversee–er, oversee at all–disability payments made to railroad workers.
The federal RRB said it would immediately implement five changes, reports the NY Times, including more independent medical evaluations instead of doctors who are in bed with fraudulent claimants, periodic evaluations of workers on disability (you may find some playing golf at Crab Meadow), and better oversight of the board’s office in Westbury, which was raided by the Feds following the Times‘ article on rampant fraud centered around LIRR disability last month.
Williams thought the revisions unfairly single out the Long Island Railroad, despite clear evidence that the LIRR’s disability claims were absolutely off the hook, compared to every other railroad in the country.
“These steps would be beneficial toward reforming the board’s disability pension system, but they appear to unfairly single out L.I.R.R. retirees and do not go far enough to address what is a nationwide issue,” said Helena Williams, the president of the Long Island Rail Road.