NJ TRANSIT CREATES EMPLOYEE COURT ADVOCATE POSITION

Michael Rubin Named to Position Providing Support to NJT Front-Line Personnel who are Victims of Assault While on Duty

NEWARK, NJ – NJ TRANSIT announces the creation of the Employee Court Advocate position to support operational employees such as bus operators and rail conductors who are victims of on-the-job assaults.  The position was created in support of the New Jersey state legislature’s added protections for front-line transportation workers to the state criminal assault statute.

NJ TRANSIT has selected attorney Michael Rubin, with 15 years of experience with the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, as its first Employee Court Advocate. Rubin will help employees who are victims of assault navigate the criminal justice system at no cost to the employee, and work with prosecutors to see that assailants face the full sentences allowable by law.

“The creation of the Employee Court Advocate position confirms NJ TRANSIT’s unwavering commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees,” said NJ TRANSIT President & CEO Kevin Corbett.  “I am confident Michael Rubin will make a real difference in the lives of our front-line employees who are forced to navigate an unfamiliar legal system and ensure that assailants are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“The ATU has worked in partnership with NJ TRANSIT to see that every step is taken not only to protect our transit workers, but to offer full support should an assault happens,” said NJ TRANSIT Board member and Chairman of the New Jersey State Council of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Ray Greaves. “Now, with the addition of Mike Rubin as NJ TRANSIT Court Advocate we can be certain that no transit worker will be made to feel alone.”

In June, a man who assaulted a pregnant bus operator in January was given an eight-year prison sentence for his actions.  The New Jersey legislature amended the state’s criminal assault statute to impose larger monetary penalties and increased custodial sentences for those convicted of assaulting NJ TRANSIT’s operational employees. 

Rubin’s role includes meeting with NJ TRANSIT employees who have been assaulted to review their cases and helping them understand their legal rights. When an employee is required to appear in court, Rubin will accompany them to court to ensure that their rights are protected and prosecutors pursue appropriate charges and sentencing. 

Previously, Rubin served as a Deputy Attorney General in New Jersey’s Department of Law & Public Safety for more than fifteen years, most recently representing NJ TRANSIT in a variety of areas of law.  He is a faculty member of the National Attorney General Training & Resources Institute, providing training in civil practice and trial advocacy to government lawyers and also teaches a graduate course in Law, Ethics and the Business Environment at Strayer University in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

About NJ TRANSIT

NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 925,000 weekday trips on 251 bus routes, three light rail lines, 12 commuter rail lines and through Access Link paratransit service. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 166 rail stations, 62 light rail stations and more than 19,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.