Toss 'Transit's' Case
Reinstate Wrongly Fired Maintainer

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

A New York City Transit Worker who was wrongfully accused of filing a false Workers' Compensation claim and then fired by New York City Transit learned last week that he had been ordered reinstated to his job by an arbitration judge and awarded back pay totaling $40,000.

DANIEL DERMODY: Comp claim was valid.

Judge Stephen F. O'Beirne made the ruling in favor of Track Equipment Maintainer Daniel Dermody after concluding that NYC Transit had no cause to discipline or dismiss Mr. Dermody. He ordered the agency to reinstate Mr. Dermody to his position in Maintenance of Way with back pay, pursuant to the collectively-bargained agreement with his union, Transport Workers' Union Local 100.

Crane Accident

It was the second win in recent months for Mr. Dermody, who was injured on the job Sept. 8, 2005 after falling off a crane he was using to do track work.

NYC Transit had challenged his Workers' Compensation claim, and later secretly videotaped him doing home repairs around the house after it refused to assign him light-duty tasks.

Management officials had accused Mr. Dermody of lying about the extent of his injuries and fired him for making false claims.

But last August, Workers' Compensation Judge James Mulligan concluded that Mr. Dermody had been partially disabled during an on-the-job accident.

The judge confirmed the Workers' Compensation award Mr. Dermody had been given, and he dismissed the MTA's assertion that Mr. Dermody should be blocked from receiving any future benefits related to the accident.

But Judge Mulligan could not reinstate Mr. Dermody to his paid position in the MTA.

MTA Doctor Cleared Him

It took a lengthy arbitration hearing at which the MTA reintroduced previous evidence, including statements from the agency's own Workers' Compensation doctor that Mr. Dermody had been injured during the fall.

The doctor concluded that the nature of his knee injury wouldn't have precluded him from doing the type of light yard work that the MTA had secretly videotaped and presented as evidence of fraud.

Mr. Dermody said he was told by an NYC Transit supervisor Dec. 20 that the agency is appealing Judge Mulligan's decision.