On November 21, 2024, Plaintiff Castano, by and through his attorneys, Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C., as and for his Amended Complaint against Defendants City of New York, Daniel McAdams in his individual capacity, and Hugh Jimenez in his individual capacity (collectively, “Defendants”), alleges upon knowledge as to himself and his own actions, and upon information and belief as to all other matter, as follows:
Central to all of the factual allegations set forth in this Complaint is the years-long, continuing retaliation that Plaintiff has experienced because of his repeat protect activity to obtain and maintain his position as a firefighter with the New York City Fire Department (“FDNY”) free form discrimination: first, as a claimant and beneficiary in the class action in this Court known as U.S. and Vulcan Society v. City of New York, 07-CV-2067 (NGG) (the “FDNY Discrimination Case” or the “Vulcan Society Case”); second, as a job applicant who successfully appealed FDNY’s 2013 disqualification of him, and then reported it to the U.S. Department of Justice as setting impediments to the relief ordered by the Court in the Vulcan Society Case; third, as a job applicant who filed a Charge of Discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) in 2017 when FDNY erected a second such impediment to his hiring and discriminated against him because of a previous criminal arrest; fourth, as a current FDNY Firefighter who has repeatedly reported harassment and discrimination by his coworkers and supervisors to FDNY’s Equal Employment Opportunity office (“EEO”); and fifth, as a current FDNY Firefighter who filed a second Charge of Discrimination with EEOC in 2023 and commenced this litigation in April 2024. Defendants’ retaliatory actions, described in the Amended Complaint, include creating a hostile work environment, excluding Plaintiff from his job duties, targeting Plaintiff for false allegations of conduct unbecoming in order to orchestrate his removal from his assigned firehouse, and delaying his hearing on the disciplinary charges based on those false allegations in order to prevent him from returning to his assigned firehouse and moving forward with his career.
If any individual is or has previously been an employee of the Defendants named in the lawsuit and/or has information that may be relevant to this case, please contact Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. as soon as possible through one of our websites, www.employmentlawyernewyork.com or www.516abogado.com, or any of our phone numbers: (516) 248–5550, (516) ABOGADO, or (212) 679–5000.
