A former city labor relations attorney has filed a complaint against the city for allegedly pushing him out of his job because he is a gay man.
The former city staffer is Scott Nabel.
On Oct. 27, Nabel filed a complaint with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) alleging that the city “engaged in a scheme to deny him a permanent appointment because he is a gay man,” according to a Friday afternoon press release sent out by his attorney, Eric Brown.
Nabel alleged that city Labor Relations Director Cathleen Simpson wanted only women to work in her office. He also argued that the city discriminated against him by hiring a heterosexual man to fill an open attorney’s position in the labor relations office that Nabel had sought and for which he was “exceedingly qualified.”
In his CHRO complaint, Nabel seeks back pay and benefits, future pay and benefits, credited service time, and attorney’s fees.
In a comment sent to the Independent by email Monday morning, city Corporation Counsel Patricia King said that the city “has not received the lawsuit Mr. Brown references. We do not comment on ongoing litigation and cannot comment on a lawsuit which we have not yet received. We take discrimination very seriously and strive to be a city that is welcoming and inclusive for all of our employees and residents.”
According to Nabel’s CHRO complaint affidavit, Nabel had worked for the city since 1997.
Since Fall 2011, he said, his caseload included pending matters before the State Board of Mediation & Arbitration and the State Board of Labor Relations.
“I continued to focus in these areas under both the DeStefano and Harp administrations, under several different labor directors. Prior to the hiring of Director Cathleen Simpson, neither my competence nor work product had been criticized.”
He said he told Simpson on his then-boss’s first day on the job in January 2020 that he is gay, just as he had told the previous head of labor relations.
Starting in March 2020 when many city departments switched to teleworking at the start of the pandemic, he said, “Director Simpson began a campaign of sending me emails critical of my work, which included statements that I was not a good fit for teleworking and that I was not qualified for attorney level work in labor relations.”
He said that Simpson required him to complete a weekly timesheet detailing his activity by the hour, as well as a Labor Activity Sheet detailing all of his assignments.
Simpson and city Corporation Counsel Patricia King then decided to eliminate his position for Fiscal Year 2020 – 2021 (FY21), Nabel said, and created a new position, Labor Relations Staff Attorney.
“The job description reflected the work performed in the office of Labor Relations, except that it added the requirement of being a member in good standing of the Connecticut state and federal bars,” he said in the affidavit. “No attorney assigned to Labor Relations has appeared in state or federal court for at least the past 20 years.” He also said that no other position in the city’s labor relations office requires membership in the Connecticut Bar, or even requires that person be an attorney.
He described his Board of Education counterpart, “a heterosexual female,” as receiving higher pay and less work than he, even though he had more experience on the job.
In June 2020, Nabel applied for the Labor Relations Staff Attorney job.
“I later learned from an attorney who represents one of the City’s unions that Director Simpson had stated that she only wanted women to work in the City’s Office of Labor Relations,” he said. “Later, another source forwarded to me a link in which Director Simpson wrote a blog in recent years dispensing advice on how to deal with narcissistic men.”
In November 2020, Nabel was turned down for the staff attorney job. He said the city’s personnel director told him that he was not qualified for the job because he was not a member in good standing of the Connecticut Bar.
Nabel subsequently paid to be reinstated to the Bar. He then reapplied for the job, and was ultimately turned down for it in late February 2021. His last day working for the city was March 5, 2021.
“Though Director Simpson claimed I was not qualified to be a labor relations staff attorney, I presented over two dozen cases during my tenure to the State Labor Board,” he said. The person ultimately hired for the role had never appeared before that board prior to being hired, he said. That person also did not represent the city in two matters that were outsourced to a private attorney.
“I therefore charge the respondent with discriminating against me because of my gender and sexual orientation. I further charge the respondent for retaliating against me based on my complaints of discrimination by continuing to fail to consider me for the vacant position of Labor Relations Staff Attorney.”
Nabel states that he suffered the loss of back wages and benefits; future wages and benefits; credited service time, pension accrual, and pension benefits; emotional distress; and attorney’s fees and costs. “And I therefore seek a full and complete statutory remedy as allowed by law.”
Unless my memory is failing I seem to remember dealing with Scott Nabel when he was labor relations/human resources with the police department.