A former 36-year employee of the Bayonne Division of Recreation is suing the city, alleging they refused to accommodate her and allow her to return to work after suffering two strokes in May 2022.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The three-count lawsuit, filed in Hudson County Superior Court on Tuesday, indicates that Veronica Burns had been working for the Ability Day program, a social club for special needs persons, since 1986.
She suffered a stroke on May 5th, 2022, and then a second, more severe stroke just two days later, according to the suit. She was eventually cleared by her doctor to return to work in June 2023, but Rec Director Peter Amadeo said a city doctor had to clear her.
“Dr. Levine was not familiar with a Recreational Leader’s job responsibilities, which did not include riding on a school bus,” the court filing contends about the June 26th, 2023 meeting.
“Even so, for some inexplicable reason, Dr. Levine’s examination was focused on whether Burns would be able to get on and off a school bus in the event of an emergency. Burns learned later that day from Dr. Levine’s nurse that she was not cleared to return to work. No further explanation was given.”
The lawsuit further states that the city never communicated anything about the decision, and when she reached out to Amadeo, who is named as a defendant, said she had to be cleared by Levine and no other alternatives were discussed.
During the September 20th, 2023 evaluation, Burns allegedly asked Levine to review her job description, which made no mention of riding school buses, but he did not oblige and instead asked her to walk up and down the hallway without much conversation.
According to the court filing, Levine told Burns’ personal doctor that he didn’t want Burns riding on a bus having to “break up fights between mentally unstable people,” despite the fact that she had not broken up a fight in at least 20 years, the suit says.
Five days later, September 25th, 2023, Burns met with Amadeo and Director of Municipal Service Suzanne Cavanaugh, another defendant in the suit, about how to dispute Levine’s findings, to which they reiterated concerns about her riding a school bus.
Cavanaugh also allegedly said there were no light duty jobs available in the Division of Recreation, to which Amadeo concurred.
She was directed to get her retirement papers from the Human Resources Department, even though she indicated she still wanted to return to work.
“Bayonne, along with the individual Defendants, were aware that the Plaintiff might require a workplace accommodation as a result of a residual impact from her stroke, but instead of engaging in the interactive process in good faith to arrive at an accommodation for her disability (if necessary), they instructed her to retire,” the suit notes.
” … At no time prior or at the time of her termination was there any mention of an undue hardship in regard to Plaintiff’s return to work. Instead, Defendants compelled Burns to retire because of what they wrongfully and unlawfully decided or perceived to be Plaintiff’s inability to do her job because of her medical condition.”
The lawsuit alleges the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination was violated, as well as that her former employer was negligent and/or intentionally inflicted emotional distress.
As a result, Burns is seeking compensatory damages, damages for emotional/physical injury and distress, pre- and post-judgement interest, all costs associated with the litigation including attorneys’ fees, punitive damages, as well as any other relief the court deems just and equitable.
She is represented by the New York-based Resnick Law Group, specifically by firm founder Jay Resnick and managing associate Corrin Cicoria.
City spokesman Joe Ryan said the city does not comment on pending litigation.
