Ex-LI school official in $35 million lawsuit alleges discrimination, unlawful termination

A former East Meadow school district administrator who is Black has filed a $35 million federal lawsuit alleging he faced racial and age discrimination and was unlawfully terminated from his job two years ago.

Arthur Williams, 63, of Westbury, who had supervised facilities and transportation for the district, said in the lawsuit that an assistant superintendent used racist and demeaning language about him in conversations with mutual colleagues.

The lawsuit states that district employees "created a hostile work place," schemed to tarnish Williams' reputation and altered his personnel records in order to deny him retirement benefits.

Williams' suit, filed on June 11 in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, names as defendants the district, Superintendent Kenneth A. Card Jr., Assistant Superintendent Patrick Pizzo and current and former members of the board of education. The board had approved Williams' termination in early 2019.

The lawsuit states Williams was told he was fired for incompetence.

In a statement released through a public relations firm representing the district, East Meadow officials said the district does not comment on litigation. The agency said it spoke on behalf of all the defendants, including Card and Pizzo.

Williams told a Newsday reporter in a July 29 interview that after he was fired, he learned from an affidavit filed by former East Meadow Superintendent Leon J. Campo that Pizzo, who is white, had allegedly made derisive comments about him to other district employees. Pizzo allegedly told some colleagues his job was to get Williams fired, Campos' affidavit said. Card, who is Black, was superintendent when Williams was terminated.

Campo filed the affidavit on Oct. 15, 2019, in support of a complaint Williams filed with the state Division of Human Rights about East Meadow's alleged discrimination against him.

The six-page affidavit states that Pizzo, in conversations with Campo, made "comments about my race, comments about my weight, comments about what I was eating, comments about my age," Williams said in the Newsday interview. "It made me feel very bad."

The lawsuit states that Williams "informally" reported his concerns about Pizzo but did not file a formal complaint "to keep the peace in the office."

Williams, a former telephone industry executive, said he was fired after 11 years with the district in two stints as an administrator. He said he has found work as a substitute teacher but has been unable to land an administrative job with other districts.

Campo, who retired in 2017 and had worked with Pizzo and Williams, said in a phone interview that Williams' termination was "very, very unfortunate" and agreed that other district employees conspired to have Williams terminated.

"To me, this is a strong case of bias that ended a person’s career," Campo said. "The way they treated Mr. Williams is a disgrace."

In the affidavit, Campo quoted Pizzo using crude language to refer to Williams' race. Pizzo also made statements such as, "He doesn't fit in — he never will," and "I think he lies all the time," the affidavit said.

A copy of the affidavit was furnished to Newsday by Williams' lawyer, Frederick Brewington of Hempstead.

The state Division of Human Rights found probable cause to support Williams' allegations, Brewington said July 29 in an interview.

Williams said he remains proud of his accomplishments in the district, citing library improvements and refurbished special education classrooms.

"I think that’s what schools should do," he said. "I made sure the kids got every dollar."

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.