Five employees sue Town of Hempstead

Allege discrimination based on refusal to support GOP

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Four current or former employees of the Town of Hempstead’s Sanitary District 6, and one former employee of the town’s parks department, have filed complaints claiming that their employer violated their constitutional rights and stifled their opportunity for job advancement.

The plaintiffs, who are being represented by attorney Jonathan Tand, claim that part of the problem stemmed from their refusal to demonstrate support for the Republican party.

Robert Nicosia and James Diehl, who have worked for Sanitary District 6 for decades, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Central Islip in March, claiming discrimination and interference with their freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. Nicosia, of West Hempstead, recently amended his complaint to include retaliation after his family withdrew their affiliation with the West Hempstead Republican Club. “My wife was the treasurer of the club and I worked on the committee,” he said, “and they said I had to donate money and other stuff.”

The complaint filed on behalf of Diehl said he often shared candid political viewpoints, which made him the target of harassment and retaliation when he stopped affiliating with the North Valley Stream Republican Club 15 years ago. “What’s said around the job, from the supervisors, is, ‘You know how it works,’” Diehl said. “If you’re not doing work for the Republican Club, and you’re not buying and selling dinner dance tickets, and you’re not handing out literature at the bagel stores, you’ll never advance beyond the job you have.”

“Diehl and Nicosia went back to work and were targeted by their fellow workers,” Tand said. “Someone hung [an] article from the Post on the wall saying the two men were homosexual lovers. They made fun of Nicosia’s height. Someone even tried to hit him with a truck.”

Recently, three other men filed complaints, Tand said, two of whom also worked for Sanitary District 6. They include Steven Lockwood of West Hempstead, who was hired as a seasonal sanitation worker in 2004 and, according to the complaint, was ordered by a supervisor to join the West Hempstead Republican Club, help out at club functions and raise and contribute money to the club. Lockwood never did so, and filed his complaint in late June.

Larry Coleman, another Sanitary District 6 employee who worked for the district for 10 years, states in his complaint that he was denied full-time employment in the district when he refused to pay dues and show support for his supervisor’s chosen political campaign — the East Rockaway Republican Club — as well as “several other Republican clubs.” Coleman left his job last year. His complaint was also filed at the end of June.

Additionally, Edward Reicherter, an employee of the town’s Parks and Recreation Department, where he worked for nearly 30 years, and a longtime member of the East Rockaway Fire Department, filed a complaint against the town claiming that he was harassed and degraded, both professionally and personally, in retaliation for past arbitration against the town. Reicherter was fired by the town in August 2013 and reinstated the following June, after grieving his termination. He also said he was kicked out of the East Rockaway Republican Club when he said he was going to remain politically neutral during the election campaign of several key village officials.

Tand said that he is expecting more town employees to file complaints in the near future.

Michael Deery, director of communications for the town, said in a written statement, “The town does not comment on matters of pending litigation other than to say the suit is without merit.”

Brian Sokoloff, a lawyer for Sanitary District 6, said he knew nothing about the recently filed complaints, but added that Diehl’s and Nicosia’s arguments were “full of holes.” “They are sorely lacking details,” Sokoloff said. “We don’t believe that the evidence will be there to prevail. Nicosia just amended his complaint to talk about actual retaliation, but there are no dates, there are no people, it’s just vague generalities. “Nothing improper was done to Diehl. Nobody violated his rights. He doesn’t have the evidence to support his claim.”