14 NJ Transit Workers Assaulted, Police Often Too Late: Lawsuit

NEW JERSEY — Fourteen people who have worked for NJ Transit faced threats and assaults from passengers while enforcing fares and COVID policies — often with security personnel or the agency's own police nowhere to be found during violent altercations, according to a federal lawsuit.

The complaint outlines alleged incidents from the past two years in which NJ Transit's employees say they sustained physical and psychological injuries. During that time, the plaintiffs say they've endured armed threats and assaults, according to the lawsuit filed June 20. One crewmember even had to escape an "angry mob" on their own after a dispatcher argued and failed to alert police, according to the complaint.

NJ Transit has long been aware that its employees risk getting assaulted when collecting fares or enforcing regulations, but it hasn't taken sufficient action to prevent such altercations, according to the lawsuit. Each plaintiff reported prior assaults to NJ Transit, with the incidents occurring between 1992 and 2006, the complaint states.

• Related article: Chronic Masturbator Ignored By NJ Transit, Lawsuit Says

But the assaults detailed in the case occurred over the past two years, when their responsibilities also included the enforcement of mask mandates, the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs seek at least $150,000 per plaintiff for each alleged assaulted outlined, according to the 36-page complaint.

An NJ Transit spokesperson declined comment to Patch, saying the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation.

New Jersey passed a law Jan. 10 that upgraded the penalties for assaults of employees working in public transit. The legislation makes assaulting a public or private transit employee who's targeted because of their profession a third-degree aggravated assault crime, which can carry penalties of 3-5 years in prison and as much as $15,000 in fines. Under the new law, NJ Transit and other bus and rail agencies can ban riders for up to a year if they assault an employee.

"In New Jersey, assaults on NJ Transit workers have increased and become more violent with passengers refusing to follow the federal mask mandate on public transit," Amalgamated Transit Union Chair Orlando Riley said in January.

But before the new law passed, NJ Transit had been long aware of assaults against its employees, the lawsuit says. The agency knew of at least 66 assaults on rail crewmembers from 2013-20, according to the lawsuit. NJ Transit reported 52 assaults on rail crews from January to September of last year. Some of the alleged incidents in the lawsuit occurred in the past few months.

Here are some of the alleged incidents outlined in the complaint.

Gun Threat After Mask Mandate, Lawsuit Says

A member of the train crew approached a male and female passenger Aug. 16 to collect tickets and tell them they must wear masks, the lawsuit says. But as the employee approached them, the passengers quickly moved to the adjacent car on the Northeast Corridor Line train, according to the complaint.

The passengers went to the upper level of the next car, since another employee was occupied the lower level, the lawsuit says. The passengers ran into the original crewmember trying to speak to them, and the employee told them they must have tickets and masks, according to the complaint.

The male passenger responded with the following, according to the lawsuit: "No ticket. No mask. Not paying (expletive). I am only going to Elizabeth. (Expletive) the mask. I am not paying."

The crewmember told them if they weren't going to pay or wear masks, they'd have to exit at the next stop — Linden Station. The male instructed the other passenger to try and hide in the crowd, the lawsuit says. And when the male exited the train, he walked by the employee and said "I should spit on you," according to the complaint.

The second employee the passengers tried to avoid stood outside inside the rail-car door, and the unruly passenger punched him twice, the lawsuit says. Another crewmember intervened during the attack, and the passenger pulled out a handgun, the complaint states.

The passenger dropped the handgun during the fight, and one of the employees kicked it away, according to the lawsuit. Another worker called for NJ Transit police assistance to report a man with a gun, but the agency's officers didn't arrive in time, the complaint says.

Finally, Linden police arrived, arrested the passenger and retrieved the gun, the lawsuit says. Even though crewmembers called the NJ Transit Police Department before the Linden Police Department, the agency's officers arrived 10 minutes after Linden's, according to the complaint.

All crewmembers gave went to both police departments to give statements and file formal charges, and a Linden detective confirmed the gun was real, the lawsuit says.

'Angry Mob'

An NJ Transit train became disabled the night of June 29 at New York Penn Station, forcing "a large number" of passengers to move to another train, the lawsuit says. The disgruntled passengers became belligerent, forming an "angry mob" around one of the transit agency's employee's, according to the complaint. One of the angry passengers spat on the crewmember, the lawsuit says.

With no police on the platform or anywhere the crewmember could see, the engineer radioed the dispatcher, the lawsuit states. But the dispatcher argued with the engineer, and police never arrived, the complaint says.

Fearing for his own safety, the employee caught in the mob ran to an empty railcar and locked himself in, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiff contacted a trainmaster to request police, and law enforcement finally arrived, court documents say.

Police Arrived 20-25 Minutes Post-Assualt, Suit Says

A disgruntled passenger threw hot coffee on an NJ Transit employee, the lawsuit said. One week later, a group of 11 people walked into a train and became "threatening and belligerent," the complaint says.

When an employee tried collecting their fares May 30, one of the passengers in the group said, "I'll punch you in the (expletive)ing mouth," according to the lawsuit.

The train reached Elizabeth Station, and there were no police or security personnel at the station or on the platform, the complaint states. The employee had to exit the train and stand on the platform — per NJ Transit policies — when the "unruly" passengers assaulted him, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit doesn't contain details of the alleged assault, but the complaint says NJ Transit police didn't get to the platform for 20-25 more minutes.

Conductor Hospitalized

A conductor intervened Aug. 19, 2020, after seeing an altercation between a ticket collector and a passenger, the lawsuit says. The passenger pushed the ticket collector into the corner of the vestibule, according to the complaint.

The conductor tried to defuse the situation and ask if there was anything he could do to assist, but the passenger said, "Mind your own business," the lawsuit states. The passenger started returning to the railcar but then quickly turned around, striking the conductor in the jaw "without warning," the complaint states.

The scuffle continued until the other passengers helped the conductor separate himself from the unruly individual, the lawsuit says. Once the train reached Secaucus, officials took the conductor to Hudson Regional Hospital for treatment of injuries throughout the body, according to court documents.