Letter: Widow now owes for MTA mistake?
Shirley Findel, with her husband Harry Findel, a retired LIRR engineer. Mr. Findel died in Florida at age 83. Soon after, his widow learned she had to repay pension money to the MTA. Credit: Findel family
The funniest part of the March 6 Newsday wasn't the comics, but a statement from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to the widow of a Long Island Rail Road retiree.
The agency said that because of an MTA error, her husband was overpaid for his pension and the agency had a duty to get that money back ["MTA to LIRR widow: We erred on pension, you owe us $26G," News].
Where was MTA and LIRR due diligence? When so many were fraudulently filing for disability, didn't that ring a bell to look closer at pension funds?
Perhaps time would be better spent examining these things ahead of time, instead of trying to claw back money from an 79-year-old widow. What a shame.
Mary Genovese, East Meadow
