An official with the Long Island Rail Road used his position as an assistant chief program officer to land his son in a job with railroad contractors, the MTA Inspector General said in a stinging report Wednesday. The unidentified official — who took retirement over the course of the investigation and is no longer employed by the MTA — sought a job for his son at six different firms doing business with the LIRR. When the official’s son did get a job with one of those firms, the Inspector General said, the official did not recuse himself in any way, and continued to oversee the work done by the contractor that employed his son. “MTA officials are entrusted to act in the public interest, not to use their positions for personal gain, such as finding jobs for their children,”  MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort said in a statement. “This Long Island Rail Road official abused that trust and violated the MTA’s ethical standards with his conduct. Vendors for the MTA have a duty to immediately report unethical requests like this.” Investigator’s with the Office of the Inspector General discovered the official’s efforts while looking into whether the man had compromised the procurement process for an element of the LIRR’s positive train-control system. While the OIG did not find any evidence the procurement had been mishandled, the investigation did turn up the fact that the official’s son was employed by one of the bidding companies — a fact the official did not disclose. A subsequent investigation found that the assistant chief program officer reached out to six different vendors doing business with the LIRR, shopping his son’s resume around. At three of those firms, he sent the resume to former LIRR employees now working in the private sector. Investigators wrote that the man’s son was ultimately hired by one of the unnamed vendors, and assigned to a project that was not MTA-related. When contacted by the MTA’s OIG, the firm reportedly fired the LIRR official’s son — as well as the official’s contact at the firm. “The MTA OIG agrees that the procurement process was not compromised,” MTA spokesman Mike Cortez said in a statement when asked about the investigation’s findings. “However, this conduct violated our code of ethics, which must be followed at all times, and we expect employees and vendors alike to report any behavior that raises concerns.” ...read more read less