25 violated ethics in N.J. Transit probe

New Jersey Transit (NJT) has identified at least 25 management employees who solicited or accepted gifts in violation of the company’s ethics policy. The violations were met with administrative action following an eight-month internal investigation. Two employees in management were terminated for soliciting and accepting gifts and meals from vendors, according to the transit agency. Ethics violations were found from fall 1995 to spring 2002. The discovery that other members of management were improperly accepting business meals from vendors resulted in disciplinary action ranging from verbal reprimands to unpaid suspensions and salary freezes. The internal investigation was prompted by a criminal case against Maureen Milan, NJT’s former vice president and general manager of bus operations. Milan pleaded guilty to corruption charges in September after admitting she demanded and received $1,600 worth of Broadway tickets from a vendor, according to The Record in Bergen County, N.J. Accepting unlawful benefits in an official capacity can result in up to 10 years in prison, but Milan’s plea bargain reduced the prison term to between three and five years. She is scheduled for sentencing in December. NJT recently initiated a program that addresses employee ethics. The campaign includes external speakers who lecture on ethical obligations, an ethics column in the company’s internal publication and training videos for new hires.