LIRR gang foreman suspended for time abuse, driving agency vehicle home

A Long Island Rail Road foreman accused of driving his work vehicle home and to a friend’s house on 23 days when he was supposed to be on the job has been suspended and demoted, officials said.

The man's job as a gang foreman supervising LIRR maintenance workers sometimes required him to travel to LIRR sites alone or with a team. But MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort said in a report Monday that over a four-month period in 2024, the foreman spent more than 35 hours visiting non-LIRR sites, including on one eight-hour shift when he spent almost three hours at his home, another residence and another, unidentified location.

Cort's office, responding to a public records request, identified the foreman as Frank Gullo, an MTA employee since February, 2012. The office put his salary at $123,374. According to LIRR payroll records, in 2024 Gullo was paid $115,331 in regular earnings, $47,561 in overtime and $400 in other pay. Gullo could not be reached Monday and the union did not make him available for comment.

The foreman also submitted travel logs claiming 12 visits to LIRR yards in Wantagh, Hicksville, Long Beach and Port Washington that he did not visit, though the report’s authors said the log inaccuracies most likely stemmed from "carelessness," not a deliberate attempt to deceive.

When interviewed by investigators, according to the report, the foreman told them he didn’t think that he was stealing time: "I’m caring, I’m always thinking, you got to get in and out. I’m on lunch ... It was never me being negligent and not caring. I care. I love my job. I love being a gang foreman."

Cort took a dimmer view of the conduct. "This is yet another example of a Long Island Rail Road supervisor who apparently believed that the MTA’s Code of Ethics and his agency’s work rules didn’t apply to him," he said in a news release. The IG’s investigation follows its 2025 examination of time abuse at the LIRR that included the use of "cloned" ID badges 36 workers used to skip out early or arrive late, relying on co-workers using the bogus cards to punch them in and out, the IG’s office found.

LIRR policy prohibits use of work vehicles for personal use and requires employees to remain on duty where they are scheduled for the full workday. "This is the most important basic obligation an individual assumes as a condition of employment with the LIRR," the policy states. Additionally, under state public officers law, public employees are forbidden from using their positions to gain "unwarranted privileges or exemptions." Violation is subject to a fine of up to $10,000.

The IG investigation began after LIRR staff monitoring GPS data for LIRR vehicles noticed that on two dates in 2024, the foreman spent an "excessive" amount of time at non-LIRR locations.

In a statement, LIRR President Rob Free said that "The reprehensible conduct of this employee was uncovered by the LIRR and reported by the LIRR as a clear violation of the railroad’s standards. Once the facts were confirmed, the employee was immediately removed from service without pay."

The foreman was not identified in a report released by the IG’s office and the office did not immediately fulfill a public records request for his name. The report said the foreman was hired at LIRR in 2012 as a car appearance maintainer, promoted to electrician in 2014 and to gang foreman in 2016.

According to the report, IG investigators built their case with data from GPS devices on vehicles the foreman drove and by watching his house.

When interviewed, the foreman said he didn’t "know the parameters" of acceptable use for his LIRR vehicle and also said that he could combine his 30-minute lunch break and two 15-minute breaks into a single one-hour break, according to the report. That was not true, according to the report, which included a spreadsheet showing seven dates when his vehicle was parked at non-LIRR locations for more than two hours.

According to the report, after he was removed from service without pay on Feb. 3, 2026, the foreman agreed to serve a 60-day suspension and to pay LIRR $730 in restitution. When he returns to the job, he will be demoted from the gang foreman position for six months.

The report also said the conduct "appears to violate the New York State Public Officers Law" and a copy of the report had been sent to the state’s Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government, which investigates potential violations of ethics laws by public officials.

A commission representative said that she could not comment on any possible investigation. The Independent Railway Supervisors Association, the union representing gang foreman at LIRR, did not immediately comment.

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.