T sues union to fire supervisor who harassed and discriminated against employees

The MBTA is suing one of its unions after an arbitrator ruled it needs to reinstate a supervisor accused of sexual and racial harassment who the agency fired two years ago.

The T filed the lawsuit earlier this month against the MBTA Inspector’s Union Local 600, challenging an arbitrator's ruling that former Red Line Chief Inspector Patrick Goggin be given his job back.

According to court documents, Goggin was terminated in June 2023 following an investigation by the T’s Office of Diversity and Civil Rights. Investigators found he made “an inappropriate comment of a sexual nature” during work hours to a subordinate and “treated women of color differently than other employees, holding them to a stricter standard of conduct.”

Those actions violate employee conduct rules and the T’s policies aimed at preventing discrimination, harassment and workplace retaliation, the lawsuit says. The investigation was triggered after a Red Line operator reported that Goggin made an inappropriate comment about her breasts.

The union representing Goggin, who worked for the T for about nine years, challenged the dismissal, sending it to arbitrator John Marra. Collective bargaining agreements typically call for disciplinary disputes between unions and employers to be handled through arbitration.

Marra found that the T had "just cause" to fire Goggin, according to the lawsuit. He wrote that Goggin "treated women, specifically Black women, more strictly than other employees in violation of the Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policy.”

However, Marra also found that the T’s decision to fire Goggin was “too severe and not appropriate in this case.” Marra’s decision states that Goggin should be “reinstated to his former position or an equivalent position," though without back pay.

Marra wrote that there is “no evidence" that Goggin was ever informed by the T that “his behavior was considered inappropriate and offensive and that if it continued his job was in jeopardy.” He said the T was required to give Goggin notice that his job was at risk due to his behavior, and didn’t.

Local 600 president Michael Fernandez, the union’s attorney Daniel Fogarty and arbitrator Marra did not respond to requests for comment. Goggin could not be reached.

A spokesperson for the MBTA said the transit authority is unable to comment on the case due to pending litigation.

The T is asking the court to nullify Marra’s arbitration award, in part because his conclusion violates public policy or societal and legal norms by reinstating a “culpable, supervisory harasser.”

Despite the findings by both the MBTA and Marra that Goggin did engage in harassing behavior, the T faces an uphill battle to make his firing permanent.

Boston University law professor Maria O’Brien said when public employees like schoolteachers, police officers and others — like T employees — have engaged in misconduct, “it is notoriously difficult to get these people fired and not rehired.”

And a 2019 Massachusetts Law Review article found that courts in Massachusetts often side with arbitrators’ decisions in matters involving public employees. The burden is on the employer to prove that the arbitrator’s decision to reinstate an employee violates the law, or well established public policy.

O’Brien said challenging arbitration decisions is often costly and can take years to resolve.