If Walt Bogdanich and his crew don’t get a Pulitzer for their work on the dodgy LIRR employee claims, I’m donning full conductor gear–train belt buckle and all–and jumping into the Hudson in February.
The NY Times’ latest dive into the LIRR employee scam reveals that consultants actually extracted large sums from LIRR workers to coach them on how to score disability checks for the rest of their lives.
Of particular interest to investigators is a small group of disability consultants and physicians who have helped the L.I.R.R. attain the dubious distinction of having the nation’s highest rate of disabled retirees even while it was earning awards for employee safety. The New York Times reported in September that nearly all of the railroad’s career employees retire early and file for disability.
One consultant, Marie T. Baran, ran the board’s Long Island office until she quit two years ago and began selling advice to rail workers on how to navigate the system of which she had been a part. Other disability advisers are prominent former union leaders, including one who once represented labor on the board of the L.I.R.R.’s parent agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
How rampant was “disability” among LIRR workers? Funny you should ask.
From 2001 through 2007, Metro-North Railroad, which serves commuters north of New York City, had 32 cases of disabling arthritis or rheumatism, compared with 753 at the L.I.R.R, which has a work force of similar size and composition.
The Times notes that consultants got about $1000 for helping LIRR staffers fill out the 15-page application for disability.
Seems like the LIRR is a shoo-in for the next episode in THE WORLD’S TOUGHEST JOBS…