Interesting
03-10-2004, 09:53 PM
Former Nassau employee files $25M lawsuit in Sylver case
Claims that the former deputy county executive sexually assaulted her
By Celeste Hadrick and Dionne Searcey
Staff Writers
March 11, 2004
A 23-year-old female county employee, who claims that former Nassau Deputy County Executive Peter Sylver sexually assaulted her, has filed a $25-million federal civil rights lawsuit against Sylver, the county and other top officials.
The woman, identified only as "Nassau County Employee 'L,'" contends county officials coerced her into signing a confidentiality agreement without benefit of counsel after she complained that Sylver repeatedly sexually assaulted her and then fired her because she resisted.
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, she charges that the county legislature, particularly Minority Leader Peter J. Schmitt (R-Massapequa), "deliberately and publicly disseminated the painfully embarrassing, shocking and stigmatizing details" of her assaults at a legislative hearing to advance partisan political interests.
She also contends County Executive Thomas Suozzi is liable because he hired Sylver without background checks that would have discovered a conviction for felony weapons possession in 1990 and personal bankruptcy. These acts "rendered Sylver unqualified and unfit to hold public office," the lawsuit charges.
'She was horribly treated'
The woman's attorney, Robert Calica of Garden City, said his client signed the agreement not to disclose her story because confidentiality was "critically important to her." While she waived her rights in the agreement to sue, Calica contends county officials "massively breached" its terms by disclosing the alleged assault.
"She was horribly treated and exploited by everybody," Calica said Wednesday. "Her immediate employer was a sexual predator. The county did not redress the wrongs done to her. And then Mr. Schmitt just betrayed her."
The lawsuit asks the court to declare the confidentiality agreement "ineffective" and award the woman $25 million in damages as well as an unspecified amount of punitive damages.
Wednesday, Suozzi's press office released a statement saying the county's actions were appropriate.
"The county's Human Resources Department did everything possible to protect this young woman and at every step complied with her wishes for privacy and confidentiality," it said. The lawsuit contends that Nassau's human resources director presented her with the confidentiality agreement and pressed her to sign it.
Sylver, who resigned in late November, has denied any wrongdoing. His attorney Stephen Worth Wednesday said Sylver also denied the allegations raised in the suit.
"It is clear to me that both this young woman and her family knew where to report a crime if in fact they felt one had been committed," Worth said. He charged that the lawsuit was "the result of Peter Schmitt's irresponsible and reprehensible conduct in violating this young woman's privacy."
Coming to Schmitt's defense
Republican legislative spokesman Ed Ward said the suit vindicates Schmitt because the administration's mishandling of the woman's complaints never would have come out if he hadn't gone public.
"This is what happens when you lie and cover up," Ward said, referring to the Suozzi administration. "The clear right thing to do was to direct her to the district attorney or the police department. Instead, they sought confidentiality agreements, promotions and secrecy."
The woman says in her suit that she was hired to work for Sylver last July through an introduction arranged by her parents, who were friends of Sylver and his wife. Almost immediately, the suit says, Sylver made frequent sexual advances, compelling the woman to perform a sexual act in September followed by attempted rape, which she resisted, on Election Day in November. Sylver fired her the next day.
The lawsuit states that Human Resources Director John Donnelly "counseled and encouraged the plaintiff that to avoid personal embarrassment to herself and to her family, and so as to avoid public exposure and stigma," she should sign the confidentiality agreement prepared by the county attorney's office. The agreement stipulated that neither she nor the county could disclose its terms, and that she would receive a raise and a new job.
Copyright ? 2004, Newsday, Inc.
________
Wellbutrin lawsuit (http://www.classactionsettlements.org/lawsuit/wellbutrin/)
Claims that the former deputy county executive sexually assaulted her
By Celeste Hadrick and Dionne Searcey
Staff Writers
March 11, 2004
A 23-year-old female county employee, who claims that former Nassau Deputy County Executive Peter Sylver sexually assaulted her, has filed a $25-million federal civil rights lawsuit against Sylver, the county and other top officials.
The woman, identified only as "Nassau County Employee 'L,'" contends county officials coerced her into signing a confidentiality agreement without benefit of counsel after she complained that Sylver repeatedly sexually assaulted her and then fired her because she resisted.
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, she charges that the county legislature, particularly Minority Leader Peter J. Schmitt (R-Massapequa), "deliberately and publicly disseminated the painfully embarrassing, shocking and stigmatizing details" of her assaults at a legislative hearing to advance partisan political interests.
She also contends County Executive Thomas Suozzi is liable because he hired Sylver without background checks that would have discovered a conviction for felony weapons possession in 1990 and personal bankruptcy. These acts "rendered Sylver unqualified and unfit to hold public office," the lawsuit charges.
'She was horribly treated'
The woman's attorney, Robert Calica of Garden City, said his client signed the agreement not to disclose her story because confidentiality was "critically important to her." While she waived her rights in the agreement to sue, Calica contends county officials "massively breached" its terms by disclosing the alleged assault.
"She was horribly treated and exploited by everybody," Calica said Wednesday. "Her immediate employer was a sexual predator. The county did not redress the wrongs done to her. And then Mr. Schmitt just betrayed her."
The lawsuit asks the court to declare the confidentiality agreement "ineffective" and award the woman $25 million in damages as well as an unspecified amount of punitive damages.
Wednesday, Suozzi's press office released a statement saying the county's actions were appropriate.
"The county's Human Resources Department did everything possible to protect this young woman and at every step complied with her wishes for privacy and confidentiality," it said. The lawsuit contends that Nassau's human resources director presented her with the confidentiality agreement and pressed her to sign it.
Sylver, who resigned in late November, has denied any wrongdoing. His attorney Stephen Worth Wednesday said Sylver also denied the allegations raised in the suit.
"It is clear to me that both this young woman and her family knew where to report a crime if in fact they felt one had been committed," Worth said. He charged that the lawsuit was "the result of Peter Schmitt's irresponsible and reprehensible conduct in violating this young woman's privacy."
Coming to Schmitt's defense
Republican legislative spokesman Ed Ward said the suit vindicates Schmitt because the administration's mishandling of the woman's complaints never would have come out if he hadn't gone public.
"This is what happens when you lie and cover up," Ward said, referring to the Suozzi administration. "The clear right thing to do was to direct her to the district attorney or the police department. Instead, they sought confidentiality agreements, promotions and secrecy."
The woman says in her suit that she was hired to work for Sylver last July through an introduction arranged by her parents, who were friends of Sylver and his wife. Almost immediately, the suit says, Sylver made frequent sexual advances, compelling the woman to perform a sexual act in September followed by attempted rape, which she resisted, on Election Day in November. Sylver fired her the next day.
The lawsuit states that Human Resources Director John Donnelly "counseled and encouraged the plaintiff that to avoid personal embarrassment to herself and to her family, and so as to avoid public exposure and stigma," she should sign the confidentiality agreement prepared by the county attorney's office. The agreement stipulated that neither she nor the county could disclose its terms, and that she would receive a raise and a new job.
Copyright ? 2004, Newsday, Inc.
________
Wellbutrin lawsuit (http://www.classactionsettlements.org/lawsuit/wellbutrin/)