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Autistic Aide to NYC councilmen sues him for mistreatment

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ASPartOfMe
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07 Dec 2016, 4:51 am

Brooklyn Councilman Vincent Gentile's autistic ex-aide accuses staffers of tormenting him with headless teddy bears in $10M suit

Quote:
An ex-Gentile staffer also compared Bistreich to Avonte Oquendo — an autistic student whose body was discovered in the East River several months after leaving his Queens school in 2014 — at a press conference on a “Avonte’s Law.” The former staffer said Bistreich should “test the doors” — prompting Gentile to laugh and clap his hands, the suit claims.

Quote:
Gentile told Bistreich his “ticking” had gotten worse. He said, “We know your condition, but when you twitch like that it’s unnerving to people” and asked “Can you look into upping your medication?” the lawsuit claims.


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envirozentinel
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08 Dec 2016, 8:27 am

Hope he wins his case. Sounds like they were making constant" jokes" at his expense.


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cyberdad
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08 Dec 2016, 8:05 pm

I'm assuming the councilman (Gentile) was in a conundrum because the aide was good at his job but made a bad impression publicly due to his visible ticks and coupled with his appearance and teddy bears didn't fit in with the office culture or when dealing with members of the public.

What they did though was cruel and uncaring. There is a number of workplaces in both the private and public sectors where having visible signs of a disorder is enough justification to get rid of you. This is a cultural thing that stems from stigma and needs to be stamped out...