New York Paralegal Blog

Long Island Fire District Had Barred Firefighters Over 65 From Receiving Service Credits in Retirement Benefits Program, Agency Charged NEW YORK – The Incorporated Village of Mineola, N.Y., and the Mineola Fire Department will pay $237,072 to settle a class age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The damages will be made in retroactive payments to a group of 25 firefighters who had been discriminated against based on their age and provide increased monthly pension amounts going forward to several firefighters. The EEOC’s suit had charged that the fire district refused to let volunteer firefighters over age 60 accrue credit toward a “length of service award” (LOSAP), the equivalent of a retirement pension, because of their age. As a result, senior firefighters lost pension amounts after they turned 60, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), a federal law that protects worke...

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the indictment of former New York Giants receiver PLAXICO BURRESS, 31, on charges of possession of a loaded pistol and reckless endangerment in connection with an incident in which he shot himself in the leg at a Manhattan nightclub. The defendant was indicted on two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a class C violent felony, and one count of Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree, a class A misdemeanor. The Grand Jury voted no true bill against Antonio Pierce. The investigation leading to today’s indictment revealed that in the early morning hours of November 29, 2008, the defendant shot himself in the leg with a .40 caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol inside the nightclub LQ New York, located at 511 Lexington Avenue. At the time the defendant shot himself, he was not licensed to carry or possess that pistol in either New York or New Jersey, where he had a home. His license to carry a c...