Passenger Trains > NY City Worker Accused of Being Late 53 Times Blames MTA

City Worker Accused of Being Late 53 Times Blames MTA for Tardiness
DNA Info
by James Fanelli
November 28, 2016

> NEW YORK CITY — It's not a bad excuse.
>
> A city worker who faced a disciplinary trial for being late for his
> job 53 times in an 18-month period blamed most of his tardiness on
> the MTA's delay-plagued subway system.
>
> Corey Bryant, a clerical associate at the Human Resources
> Administration, gave that excuse to city administrative judge Noel
> Garcia during his trial, saying "a lot of times ... it was the train"
> and he shouldn't be penalized.
>
> Indeed, subway delays have been on the rise in recent years. But
> Garcia didn't buy the excuse, noting Bryant's superiors counseled him
> several times about his excessive tardiness and that he never
> provided any proof from the MTA that there were delays on the lines
> he took on his late days.
>
> "Both our case law and common sense supports a determination that the
> 53 latenesses in a span of 18 months, most attributed to undocumented
> transit-delays, was excessive," Garcia said in his decision.
>
> The 53 instances of tardiness occurred between May 2014 and October
> 2015 and totaled 907 minutes — or about 15 hours — in missed work,
> according to the decision.
>
> Bryant also said that a knee injury he suffered that caused him to
> walk slowly also contributed to his lateness. But Garcia said in his
> decision that Bryant — who had until 10 a.m. to get to work — didn't
> give a legitimate answer to why he just didn't start his commute
> earlier.
>
> "When [Bryant] was asked what reason he had for not leaving his
> residence at an earlier hour, [Bryant] sarcastically answered, 'It's
> called sleep,' demonstrating a general defiance of the timeliness
> rules," the judge said in his decision.
>
> Bryant was also on trial for making threatening statements and
> discourteous behavior, including saying to a supervisor, "You better
> get away from me, lady," after she asked him to lower his voice
> during a phone call. Ultimately, Garcia recommended in his decision
> that Bryant be fired.
>
> Bryant appealed the decision to the City Civil Service Commission.
> But earlier this month, the commission upheld Garcia's decision that
> Bryant be terminated.
>
> Bryant's lawyer, Michael Coviello, declined to comment on the
> decision.

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20161128/civic-center/carey-bryant-late-53-times-subway-delays

That's very unusual, but this guy seemed to push the limits.

Mouthing off to a judge / hearing examiner is rarely a winning tactic.

Posted from Android

Yes, this guy's defense goes beyond specious!

His mouthpiece had no comment, perhaps because he was damned embarassed to be representing him.

So he's late an average of once a week, by an average of 17 minutes each time.  But he's also a flaming a**hole.

If you've ever worked in civil service, it is far, far easier to fire him for the relatively minor timekeeping problem than it is for being a beligerent jerk.

march_hare Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So he's late an average of once a week, by an
> average of 17 minutes each time.  But he's also a
> flaming a**hole.
>
> If you've ever worked in civil service, it is far,
> far easier to fire him for the relatively minor
> timekeeping problem than it is for being a
> beligerent jerk.

Well documented, "counseling" from a supervisor, offers to work with him, all unsuccessful.

Very quantitative, impossible to disprove.

Document everything and use progressive dicipline and you can fire anybody.
It might take a while, but it does work, even on a "union" job.
Have seen it done more then a few times.

Reminds me of what me old boss in New York used to say, "the early trains are never late".
 

Attendance problems are becoming ridiculously commonplace in the transit industry. FMLA was intended to help those who genuinely needed help for a short period of time, but it is routinely used for pretty much any excuse to stay home from work and get paid if benefits or vacation time is available to the employee. Many transit agencies must have an additional 20% or more personnel to staff the extra board to cover unexpected absenteeism.

The result?  Runs get cancelled, passengers are inconvenienced - arrive at their own jobs or school tardy, or in extreme cases, lose their own jobs because the transit system is unable to provide scheduled service in a timely manner.

It is the lack of work ethic of the past few generations of workers.  Nobody wants to work even good paying jobs that require timeliness, safety consciousness, work on holidays, late at night, early in the morning, etc.

timecruncher