NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - An NYPD veteran who suffers health effects from his time at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11 attacks was fired for taking medical leave, a new lawsuit against New York City's Taxi & Limousine Commission says.
Joseph DeFrancis and Ajay Kapur sued over being let go by TLC chair Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk, who is called Mayor Bill de Blasio's "hand-picked head" for the TLC in the Dec. 21 lawsuit filed in New York County Supreme Court.
DeFrancis, who says he was previously the highest-ranking uniformed officer under former chair Meera Joshi, was fired after Jarmoszuk learned he complained about age discrimination and Family & Medical Leave Act time he took for his Sept. 11 injuries.
Jarmoszuk demeaned, humiliated and fired older men "on a daily basis" while hiring younger women regardless of qualifications, the suit says. DeFrancis was fired for reporting a hostile work environment for older employees, he says.
Co-plaintiff Kapur makes the same allegations. He was deputy chief of police and also a first responder and former lieutenant with the NYPD.
"This lawsuit is meant to expose the discriminatory and retaliatory nature of Defendants TLC and Heredia Jarmoszuk and to obtain justice for the hard-working former public servants who have been discriminated against and victimized by... Jarmoszuk, whose illegal actions were condoned by the Mayor's Office.