Fireman Challenges Suspension
A former Sag Harbor volunteer is suing the Village of Sag Harbor, saying he was improperly terminated after complaining about an alleged assault by a fellow firefighter. He seeks nearly $1.3 million in damages.
Noel Brandt said the problems began in June 2015, during a meeting at the firehouse. He said in the suit that Ray Milazzo, a former fire chief, grabbed his crotch and “continued to hold it for a period of time.”
Lawrence Kelly, Mr. Brandt’s attorney, referred to the incident as a sexual assault in the suit, filed in United States District Court on Nov. 6.
Other firefighters were present, including Brian Gilbride, Mr. Brandt’s uncle, who stepped down as mayor of Sag Harbor Village that same month. Mr. Brandt alleged that Mr. Gilbride and Eugene Garypie encouraged Mr. Milazzo.
“As a victim of male-on-male sexual assault, Noel Brandt was in unfamiliar territory, looking to process the event for a period of time,” the lawsuit stated, adding that he was “convinced that the egging on by his Uncle Brian and Eugene Garypie to Milazzo had instigated and/or continued the sexual assault.”
That evening, Mr. Brandt sent a text message to Mr. Garypie to relay to Mr. Gilbride, saying that he would not tolerate their encouragement of the incident and that the two of them could come by his house. “Let your friend know I am having a 2 for 1 sale on whoop ass,” he wrote.
After finding out about the text message, the Fire Department suspended Mr. Brandt. Mr. Kelly asserted this week that the department and the village should instead have dealt with him as a victim of sexual assault. Asked how the department learned of the text, Mr. Kelly said, “We don’t know, because we weren’t privy to the actual hearing.”
The Sag Harbor Fire Department has a governing board of wardens, which includes two wardens from each fire company and the fire chiefs. The board handles the disciplining of members.
Mr. Brandt was made to wait outside the wardens’ meeting for several hours while they interviewed Mr. Milazzo and others, Mr. Kelly said. The lawsuit alleged that Mr. Brandt was not given written notices of the charges, nor was he given the opportunity to testify in a formal hearing, and was only called into the room to be told that he was suspended.
The crux of the suit, Mr. Kelly said, is that Mr. Brandt was not afforded due process before being suspended and then removed from the rolls.
Mr. Kelly said in the suit that the board of wardens was never told of the incident described in the complaint.
Several weeks after being suspended, Mr. Brandt approached Thomas Gardella, the chief at the time, and was told he would need to attend anger management classes and pay for them himself. “There is no basis for a sexual assault victim to be forced to pay money out of the victim’s pocket for ‘anger management' classes,” the lawsuit said. “There was no basis for any Fire Department action with regard to the text message from Noel Brandt to Eugene Garypie, which involved a sexual victim reaching out to one of the group egging on the sexual attack.”
When Mr. Brandt protested, the chief requested Mr. Brandt be terminated, the suit said. The village board voted to remove him from its rolls as a volunteer firefighter in January 2016.
Mr. Brandt is seeking $950,000 for the village’s violation of his rights to procedural due process under the 14th Amendment, and $300,000 in punitive damages from Mr. Gardella, who stepped down as fire chief this year and ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the village board.
Mr. Gardella, who is named in the lawsuit as a co-defendant with the village, said yesterday he had not been served with the papers. “First of all, I never witnessed any of this abuse that he alleges happened. I never witnessed anything. He never told me anything like that. It was never brought to my attention. . . . It’s bizarre. I don’t even know where this is coming from.”
As chief, he said, it was his job to implement Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau training for firefighters, the latter of which includes sexual harassment policies. “So why would I hide something or let something like that knowingly happen?” he said.
As for the specifics of Mr. Brandt’s suspension, Mr. Gardella said he could not comment. Beth Kamper, the village administrator, did not return a request for comment. Mr. Kelly said that the village had not been served with the lawsuit.
Mr. Milazzo, Mr. Garypie, and Mr. Gilbride could not immediately be reached, and Mr. Kelly said Mr. Brandt did not wish to say anything further.