New York, NY - Jury Awards Former Tunnel Worker $735,000 in Discrimination Case

Text Size

Email Post

Print Post

Comments (1)

Save Article

New York, NY - A federal jury has awarded more than $700,000 to a former Queens-Midtown Tunnel employee who said his bosses denied him a promotion and penalized him for taking sick days because he was Jewish.

The jury, in United States District Court in Manhattan, decided that the former employee, Gregory Fishman, should get $235,000 for emotional pain and $500,000 in punitive damages.

Mr. Fishman, 45, is also seeking more than $1 million in lost pay, but whether he receives anything will be up to the judge in the case, Lawrence M. McKenna, to decide.

In the complaint filed, Mr. Fishman argued that after a meeting with the general manager of the the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, Mr. Peter Senesi and another official to discuss his attendance record, he overheard Mr. Senesi using an expletive before calling him a Jew. Mr. Senesi denied the contention on the witness stand.

That allegation is the underlying basis for Mr. Fishman's claim of religious discrimination, said Thomas Ricotta, a lawyer who, along with Matthew Porges, represented Mr. Fishman.

"Actions were taken against my client that were taken differently for other people who weren't Jewish," Mr. Ricotta said.

Mr. Fishman, who began working at the tunnel in December 1991, took an exam for a promotion to Permanent Level II Maintainer, and he earned the third highest score. But Mr. Senesi passed him over for a promotion.

Fourteen Queens-Midtown Tunnel employees were eligible for promotion after the exam, and the only two who did not receive one were Mr. Fishman and another Jewish man, the complaint said.

In February 2005, Mr. Fishman filed a complaint with the authority's equal employment opportunity officer. In March of that year, Mr. Fishman was demoted and his salary was decreased by $8,000 a year, the complaint said.

Less than a year later, Mr. Fishman asked for time off because he needed knee surgery. The authority denied him the time off, according to the complaint, even though a doctor for the agency had examined him and had determined that he was not fit for work because of his knee.

Mr. Fishman left his job as a provisional bridge and tunnel maintainer because of the alleged harassment, and now lives in Keller, Tex. Mr. Fishman, has not been able to find a steady job, Mr. Ricotta said.

"He lost a 15-year career with the M.T.A.," Mr. Ricotta said. "It's a shame."