New Jersey creates employee court advocate position

A new employee court advocate position has been created by New Jersey Transit to support operational employees who are victims of on-the-job assaults, which supports the New Jersey state legislature’s added protections for frontline transportation workers to the state criminal assault statute.

Michael Rubin, who comes with 15 years of experience working with the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, will be the first attorney to fill the position. 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 and CEO Kevin Corbett. “I am confident Michael Rubin will make a real difference in the lives of our frontline 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 Ray Greaves, NJ Transit board member and chairman of the New Jersey State Council of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). “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, 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 teaches a graduate course in Law, Ethics and the Business Environment at Strayer University in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.