The LIRR Knew All Along
As you have figured out by now, the LIRR has received plenty of attention on here & around other tri-state area media resources. The attention has not been for the right reasons as former employers are being investigated for manipulation the system to collect disability benefits. Unfortunately for the agency, the negative coverage continues as word as come out that the LIRR knew about this problem all along. Kenneth Lovett of the New York Daily News has more in this report:
ALBANY – A Long Island Rail Road official admitted the agency knew for a long time that many of its retirees collected disability payments, but never spoke up.
“It wasn’t our place,” the official told the Daily News. “We’re not part of the board making the decisions.”
The New York Times reported Sunday that virtually all LIRR employees retiring after age 50 in recent years had applied for disability – and that more than nine out of 10 got it. The Times said some 2,000 LIRR employees have retired since 2000.
The Railroad Retirement Board okayed the payments. The LIRR and MTA don’t have members on the board.
The Railroad Retirement Board requested information from the LIRR when considering each application, and told the agency who had been approved every month, the LIRR official said.
Despite the many names, the official said, no one put the situation together “because we weren’t informed in any systematic way. We didn’t know more than 90% were receiving them.”
Click here for the complete report.
More as it comes in….
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