Railroad Retirement Board - Long Island RR Disability Controversy

Long Island RR Disability Controversy

In contrast to the single disability program offered by Social Security, Railroad Retirement offers two types of disability annuities. The Total Disability, or "Disability Freeze" as it is called, is based on guidelines similar to Social Security Disability. The Occupational Disability only requires that applicants possess certain ailments which are deemed by law as an inability for them to safely perform their particular regular job.

Railroad employees applying for either disability annuity must end any compensated service within 90 days from the date of filing. Employees either quit their jobs, retire or exhaust sick benefits before applying for either disability. Because of this requirement and the work restrictions while receiving a disability annuity, most annuitants had worked for carriers that already awarded them private company pensions.

In 2008, more than 90% of Long Island Rail Road retirees were receiving occupational disability payments. A former LIRR pension department manager was arrested and charged with official misconduct for allegedly "taking money to help railroad employees find a doctor and fill out paperwork for federal disability payments". All charges of corruption and official misconduct were dismissed by Supreme Court Judge Kase on December 11, 2009, who stated the prosecution had misled the Grand Jury in the indictment. In October of that year the Board voted to strengthen its oversight of disability pensions.

A report produced in September 2009 by the U. S. Government Accountability Office disclosed that five federal agencies which investigated and audited the disability awards found no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing by either the Railroad Retirement Board or the retirees who applied for those awards. Its investigation did state, however, that "a nearly 100-percent approval rate in a federal disability program is troubling, and could indicate lax internal controls in RRB's decision-making process, weaknesses in program design, or both." The report found no fraud or wrongdoing, but noted that in "prior work, we found that numerous claims with evidence from the same doctors can be an indicator of potential fraud or abuse"; unlike Metro-North, LIRR disability evidence was provided primarily by one of three doctors.

In March 2010, the New York Attorney General's Office announced that the LIRR had agreed to appoint an independent examiner and implement other reforms to address abuses of the occupational disability benefits by its retirees and to help ensure that benefits are available only to those who truly are disabled.

Another series of 11 federal arrests on Oct 27, 2011 included two doctors and a former union official.