NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The LIRR suspended three foremen accused of stealing thousands of dollars by claiming they were working overtime, even during times they were caught on surveillance spending time at home.
Two reports detailed how the three supervisors more than doubled their regular pay with overtime, including some they didn’t earn according to MTA Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny.
Surfacing foremen Dallas Bazemore, 47, of Laurelton, and Mark Speruta, 44, of West Babylon, along with track foremen Claude Birong, 46, of Carle Place, have been suspended without pay for 30 days and forced to pay back a total of $11,625 in earnings, MTA officials said.
"Fraud or abuse of timekeeping is unacceptable," MTA spokesperson Aaron Donovan said in a statement.
According to the reports, in 2019, the foremen were under surveillance for several months. Speruta was caught at home during four days he was supposed to be working while Birong was seen at home, or other "nonwork locations" on eight days.
Bazemore was spotted somewhere other than his workplace during nine out of 10 days he was watched.
A review of his Macy’s credit card uncovered that during another nine days Bazemore "was likely shopping during work hours," Pokorny's reports said.
According to the reports, the three foremen defended their actions in interviews with investigators.
Birong referenced an "unspoken rule" where employees could leave a worksite but be on standby at a nearby location if there was no work to do. He also added that he would sometimes go home due to his wife being sick.
Speruta told investigators that he was "not the type of guy that hangs out at home when scheduled to work," but that he sometimes did paperwork at home. He later said he used "bad judgment."
Bazemore said "some jobs ended early, and he sometimes left early on those dates because there would be nothing for him to do," the reports said.
He added that trips to Macy’s were likely made during his lunch breaks.
Investigators also discovered that "casino records showed he was gambling in Atlantic City," on two paid sick days Bazemore used.
Bazemore told investigators that "it was possible he ate something while he was in Atlantic City and got sick enough to not be able to work," a claim Investigators found to be "not credible."
Bazemore was given a "last-chance agreement" by the LIRR in addition to the suspension, which said he would be fired in the event of any future wage violations.
Birong and Speruta were also reprimanded for leaving their crews unsupervised while they were absent from work and disregarding "their duty to oversee the employees’ safety and work performance, including ensuring proper time and attendance."
All three men each worked for the LIRR for over 20 years and were known as "high overtime earners," according to the report.
They each earned over $220,000 per year from 2018 to 2020 despite having base salaries that ranging from $73,743 and $88,508.
Federal prosecutors have brought criminal charges against several current and former MTA employees, including five from the LIRR.
"The new leadership at the MTA is working with our labor partners to build off of recently implemented measures that have resulted in annual overtime expenditures dropping by hundreds of millions of dollars despite the historic amount of work being completed," Donovan said.
Birong and Bazemore could not be reached for comment. Speruta declined to comment.