On behalf of its besieged governor, Democrat David Paterson, New
York state has paid $300,000 to a white photographer to make his
claim Paterson fired him to replace him with a black photographer
go away. The New York Post reports
The state has secretly settled an embarrassing federal
racial-discrimination lawsuit, The Post has learned. The suit
accused Paterson, back when he was Senate minority leader in
2003, of firing a white Senate photographer in order to replace
him with an African-American.
The lawsuit had been scheduled to go to trial in federal court
Monday in Syracuse, with Paterson, the state's first black
governor, as a key witness. The case was settled earlier in the
week, although a few glitches delayed the final deal until
yesterday, legislative sources said.
The settlement ends a civil-rights action first filed in 2005
by Joseph Maioriello, 56, of Schenectady, a 26-year Senate
employee who originally sought $1.5 million.
He was fired from his $34,000-a-year job as a photographer two
years earlier and replaced by a black employee, El-Wise
Noisette. The shakeup happened after Paterson ousted then-Sen.
Martin Connor (D-Brooklyn) as the minority leader. [...]
Amazingly, Paterson, who is legally blind, offered the
implausible claim in a sworn deposition that he couldn't see well
enough to have fired photographer Joseph Maioriello because of
his race.
A Paterson aide later said the comment was "a quip, a joke."
Right. Court proceedings: that's where all the great standup
comedians get their start.
