The head of Boston’s metro train has agreed to a $500,000 settlement with the agency’s communications chief after yanking her by the hair.
MBTA GM Phil Eng, also the state’s acting transpo secretary, was accused two years ago of pulling Gabrielle Mondestin’s hair.
Eng later allegedly apologized but Mondestin wanted more.
Along with accepting the cash payout from the T, Mondestin has agreed to resign.
Eng won praise last month from his rabbi, Gov. Maura Healey, who said he was “doing a terrific job.”
He’s been doing double duty as MBTA general manager and acting state transportation secretary.
The $495,000 the T has agreed to pay to settle the Mondestin case roughly equals Eng ‘s salary.
The hair pulling occurred at a “team buliding” dinner held in November 2024.
Eng has said he apologized for the incident at the time.
“My goal is always to lead with respect and inclusivity,” Eng said in a statement. “I know that this was a mistake, and I own that. I have apologized to this employee fully and have reflected on my actions.
“I am committed to learning from this experience and upholding the highest standards of professionalism in all my interactions as secretary and general manager,” Eng added.
The incident, first reported by Contrarian Boston, occurred at a restaurant where T employees and their spouses were having a team dinner Gayla Cawley of the Boston Herald.
The MBTA confirmed that an “insensitive” interaction occurred between Eng and an employee, but downplayed the incident as occurring in the context of a larger conversation about hair from earlier in the evening that included multiple people, Cawley said.
Eng was poking fun at his own baldness when the alleged interaction occurred, according to the MBTA.
Healey, who has often touted Eng’s work at the T eliminating slow zones and establishing new Commuter Rail lines, recently reaffirmed her confidence in him after the hair-tugging incident came to light, NBC Boston said.
