By Adam Nichols
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — A transit worker who refused to file fake inspection reports saying the subway system was safe was punished by his bosses in retaliation, he told the New York Post.
As investigators revealed that thousands of bogus signal inspections were putting lives at risk, the worker said MTA chiefs persecuted him because he refused to lie about inspections he hadn't done.
"They were intimidating us," the 11-year veteran, who wasn't identified because he feared further repercussions, told the Post.
"They would say that it had to be done, but you can't build a house from the ground up in a month."
Under federal pressure to meet monthly deadlines, workers filed paperwork saying inspections had been done even though they hadn't, according to a report by the MTA inspector general.
The Post's source said two years ago he was ordered to inspect switches on the F line at 34th Street in one day — a task that was impossible in that time.
The signals prevent trains from colliding, the Post reported.
He told his boss he was unable to check them all, and was told, "It's an unwritten rule" that incomplete work is logged as having been done, he told the Post.
As punishment, he was assigned the task of removing track rails, considered one of the lowest jobs on the transit ladder.
He said the corner cutting is the norm for inspectors, with only a handful complaining about the shocking practice.