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New from CommonWealth Beacon FRENCH CONNECTION: The CEO of the company that has an MBTA contract to operate the commuter rail system is heading back to France as a bid for a new contract looms. Gintautas Dumcius has more.   excerpts:  ABDELLAH CHAJAI, the CEO and general manager of the MBTA’s contracted commuter rail operator Keolis Commuter Services, is leaving his position this summer and returning to France. In September, he will start a new job as executive director of marketing and innovation for the Keolis Group, a Paris-based conglomerate focused on public transportation.  The change at the top of Keolis Commuter Services comes as the contract, held by the company since July 2014, is set to expire June 2027. MBTA officials are readying to have a new contract in place, whether it’s with Keolis or another operator, by the time the current contract expires.  A search for Chajai’s successor is underway, according to the company. An interim CEO, not yet announced, will helm the organization until the new CEO is hired, with input from MBTA officials.  The Fall River/New Bedford Line, also known as South Coast Rail, a long-awaited project that cost $1.1 billion, started service on March 24.  But the service saw a rocky start, with canceled trains and customers shifted onto buses. Keolis blamed cancellations on needing more trained employees, and Chajai appeared before the MBTA’s oversight board in April to apologize to passengers for the disruptions. In a May 2 letter to state senators last May, after they inquired about the late trains, MBTA general manager Phil Eng wrote that, while the majority of South Coast rail trips were on time, the shuttle service was “entirely unacceptable.”   “Keolis provided assurances to the MBTA prior to the start of service that a sufficient number of trained operators would be available, and that Keolis would provide the level of service our riders deserve,” he added. “Keolis has fallen short on that promise, and the MBTA intends to hold Keolis accountable.”  (For the last eight weeks, the line has not seen weekend cancellations due to crew availability.) ***INTERESTING INSIGHT INTO NARROWING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAPS! ALL CHILDREN SHOULD SUCCEED! **** OPINION: Research shows debate team competitions are linked to strong academic gains and can help narrow achievements gaps among under-served students, so we should fund more of them, argues Jackney Joseph, the managing director of external affairs at the Boston Debate League.   ***BEACON HILL BUDGET!**** BUYING TIME: As lawmakers hash out a final version of the budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, Gov. Maura Healey is giving them some more time – four weeks – to reach an agreement. Chris Lisinski of the State House News Service has more on the $7.5 billion spending plan.

MBTA sues union in effort to fire supervisor in misconduct case June 25, 2025 By Gintautas Dumcius The MBTA has sued a union representing inspectors who work for the transit agency, arguing the T should be able to fire a supervisor who the agency says engaged in sexual and racial harassment.  The complaint, filed in Suffolk Superior Court on June 9, details allegations of misconduct and the MBTA’s firing of the supervisor, Patrick Goggin, a former chief inspector.  The OPEIU MBTA Inspector’s Union Local 600, of which Goggin is a member, fought the firing and took the transit agency to arbitration, a dispute resolution procedure allowed under the collective bargaining agreement between the agency and the union. The union won reinstatement for Goggin, leading to the MBTA’s lawsuit.

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After a hearing held over several days last year, an arbitrator declared in May that the T had “sufficiently proven” Goggin committed the misconduct in violation of the agency’s rules and zero-tolerance policies, and the T had “just cause” to discipline him, according to the MBTA’s complaint.  But the arbitrator nonetheless ordered the T to reinstate the supervisor to his former position, or an equivalent one, without back pay, ruling that firing him was too severe a penalty. In doing so, the arbitrator “exceeded his authority” and the decision “violates public policy and is otherwise contrary to law and therefore unenforceable,” the MBTA’s attorneys argued in the complaint.  An MBTA spokesman declined to comment, citing pending litigation. A lawyer for the union, Daniel Fogarty, did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a union official. Goggin was unreachable for comment.  READ MORE

More Context MBTA can be sued over assault by bus driver, SJC rules (March 2025) ***REMEMBER THIS?  :  excerpt: On March 3, 2015, Matthew Theisz fell asleep on an MBTA bus, waking and wandering out into Lynn as a blizzard swirled around him. When another MBTA bus passed by the bus stop, ignoring Theisz’s attempts to flag it down for instructions on how to return to Boston, he rapped on the back door of the bus and chased it down when it did not stop.  “Lost, cold, and frustrated at the prospect of being stranded, Theisz first questioned why the bus driver had not stopped sooner,” Wendlandt wrote in the ruling. The driver yelled at Theisz, leaving his seat to kick snow at the man.   According to the MBTA’s brief, Theisz appeared to be impaired by drugs or alcohol, called the driver an “a**hole” and threw a snowball at him, though Theisz disputes the claim that he threw a snowball.   When Theisz uttered the profanity, Wendlandt wrote, “this further triggered the bus driver’s anger; as the driver subsequently described it, he just ‘lost it.’ Enraged, the driver lunged at Theisz, escalating the encounter.”  Theisz retreated, the court recounted, but the driver followed him outside and began punching and kicking him. The beating was so severe, Theisz alleges, that he suffered a traumatic brain injury leaving him completely unable to return to his normal employment.  The state brought assault and battery charges against the driver, who was acquitted by a jury. Theisz sued both the driver – who never responded to the complaint and received a default judgement – and the MBTA. The MBTA, Theisz argued, was responsible for the driver’s actions because the transit authority negligently not only retained the driver even after multiple incidences where he demonstrated hostile or violent behavior but also promoted him.  The MBTA claimed in Superior Court that it is immune from being sued because the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act protects public employers from liability if they did not prevent harm caused by some third party who wasn’t acting on behalf of the employer.   Before the driver was promoted to a full-time bus operator in 2013, he had sometimes engaged in unsafe driving and, on occasion, interacted with the public and his supervisors in a hostile or insubordinate manner, according to the court’s account. Seven months after his promotion, driving through Lynn, he left the driver’s seat of a moving bus to deal with an allegedly unruly passenger.  “The passenger, who witnesses reported struck or spat at the driver, eventually attempted to retreat to no avail; the driver continued to beat him,” Wendlandt wrote. “Meanwhile, the bus, which the driver had left unattended as he attacked the passenger, struck three parked cars, endangering the lives of all the passengers onboard as well as any persons and property in the bus’s uncontrolled path.”  According to the court, the MBTA suspended the bus driver for one day, taking no further disciplinary action or requiring any training. Four months later, the driver again received no disciplinary action after stopping the bus and blocking traffic, refusing to move or cooperate with a police officer who requested his driver’s license, leading to his arrest. The incident involving Thiesz occurred one year later.  ***WHY DIDN'T TAD HEUER SELF-DISCLOSE? *** Milton special counsel steps down; MBTA alleged conflict (March 2024) excerpt:  A HIGH-POWERED ATTORNEY representing Milton in its legal fight against Attorney General Andrea Campell over zoning withdrew from the case after just two days on the job when two state agencies alleged his involvement represented a conflict of interest. Tad Heuer, a partner at Foley Hoag, joined Milton’s legal team as a special counsel on Tuesday night and appeared at a hearing before a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday. But later that day state officials apparently raised concerns that Foley Hoag had a conflict of interest because the law firm in other capacities represents the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the MBTA. Milton officials on Friday said Foley Hoag had disclosed to them that the firm does work for MassDOT and the MBTA but did not believe that work rose to the level of a conflict of interest.  State officials said Heuer has advised the MBTA in the past, but had no details on the nature of his work.

More from CommonWealth Beacon AG TO DC: Andrea Campbell and three other blue state attorneys general took to Washington to describe their ongoing fight against Trump administration policies in court. Jennifer Smith has the report.  LAYING TRACK: Even as towns become compliant with the MBTA Communities law, some hold out hope for legislative or judicial intervention. Jennifer Smith has the details.  OPINION: The people behind the state’s initiative petition process, adopted in 1918, never anticipated it being used to undermine the separation of powers, argue Jerold Duquette, a political science professor at Central Connecticut State University, and Lawrence Friedman, who teaches constitutional law at New England Law.

What We're Reading BEACON HILL: Unions, including Teamsters Local 25, are urging state lawmakers to hit the brakes on driverless cars. (Boston Herald)  ENERGY: Solar panels on rooftops and over parking lots are offering some stress-relief to the energy grid amid a heatwave. (WBUR)  TRANSPORTATION: The Waltham-based company that made an unsuccessful bid for overhauling the Massachusetts Turnpike’s service plazas is turning to Gov. Maura Healey and arguing the state is leaving a billion dollars on the table by giving the contract to Irish firm Applegreen. (Boston Business Journal - paywall)  PUBLIC SAFETY: New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell has hired a new police chief who recently retired from a job in Connecticut. The first outsider tapped for the job in 30 years, the hire comes as the city’s police department is under scrutiny, following a Boston Globe investigation alleging long-running misconduct. (New Bedford Light)  HOUSING: Home sellers may outnumber buyers in other parts of the US, but in the Boston area, housing supply is still tight and demand remains high, leading to sellers having the upper hand. (Axios Boston)

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