NEW YORK CITY: High-Ranking Lesbian Transit Official Accused Of Nepotism

A high-ranking MTA official has been accused of using her position to get her partner a job. The couple says the investigation is a witch-hunt because of their sexual orientation.

Sherry Herrington, the $170,000 operations chief at Metro-North Railroad praised her partner’s qualifications in an email to the human resources department without revealing their relationship, according to the report by state Controller Thomas DiNapoli’s office. The partner, Stuart Moore, was subsequently hired with an annual salary of nearly $85,000 even though the starting salary for the post was about $57,000, the report states. Her new job was with the On-Board Services Unit, a small group in Herrington’s large operations’ division. The unit monitored train crews’ activities, including if they were collecting fares.

Herrington says she did inform her immediate supervisor that Moore had applied for the job. Moore has resigned. Herrington is the first-ever female operations chief for Metro-North.