Politics & Government
Nassau County Wins Discrimination Verdict
Farmingdale man accused county of civil rights violations, retaliation.
Written by Joe Dowd
A Farmingdale man who accused Nassau County of violating his civil rights has lost his case in federal court.
Willie Warren, 47, of Farmingdale, a former equipment operator, claimed the county had discriminated against him at his job because he is black. A jury in Brooklyn federal court ruled against him Friday, throwing out his multimillion dollar lawsuit, Newsday reported.
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Warren alleged that Nassau violated his civil rights when it allowed work-place retaliation and racial discrimination to go on after he was transferred to a new job.
Attorney Paul F. Millus, who represented Nassau County in the case, told Newsday that the bosses who Warren claimed to have been responsible for the racially charged remarks had either been fired or were dead for about 10 years, when the issue first came to light."Fighting against these ghosts was an uphill battle from the start, but we were able to prevail," Millus told Newsday.
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Warren received $150,000, a promotion and a transfer in 2003 to settle an initial claim of discrimination. In that instance, a department supervisor, Linda Alberti, was caught on tape making racist remarks about him, Newsday reported.
Alberti was fired. But Warren claimed the discrimination when on, saying lug nuts on his work truck were loosened and a hangman's noose was found where he worked.
The jury of seven took about five hours Friday to hand up its verdict.
"We're very, very disappointed with the outcome and we're reviewing our options," said Warren's attorney, Frederick Brewington, told Newsday.
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