SECAUCUS – Members of a gay rights advocacy group on Tuesday night protested the Town Council giving any consideration to reinstating three volunteer firefighters who resigned two years ago after a gay couple won a multimillion-dollar harassment lawsuit against the town.
Mayor Michael Gonnelli told the standing-room only crowd, which included members of Garden State Equality as well as firefighter supporters, that the three men, Charles Snyder Sr., Charles Snyder Jr. and Charles Mutschler, told him Monday they did not wish to be reinstated.
At a rally held outside town hall an hour before the public meeting, where signs such as “Secaucus, Don’t Reinstate Hate” were displayed, Garden State Equality chairman Steven Goldstein said he learned in a meeting with the mayor Tuesday that the reinstatement wouldn’t happen.
But he said he was upset to later find out that the mayor and council were considering a resolution at the meeting to promote Charles Snyder Sr. to superintendent of the Department of Public Works. The protest then also focused on Snyder’s promotion.
“In the real world when an employee makes death threats, that employee doesn’t get a promotion. That employee is banned from the workforce of the company forever,” Goldstein said.
Goldstein said the three men, who resigned while facing town administrative charges in 2008, had also signed an agreement with the town that said they would not seek to rejoin the department.
Gonnelli, a longtime firefighter, said Snyder’s personnel record only contained commendations and he was qualified for the position.
“This was an issue about a gentleman who deserves a promotion who got it,” he said.
The mayor and council voted 6-to-1 in favor of the resolution to make Snyder superintendent.
Peter de Vries and Timothy Carter, a gay couple who lived on Schopman Drive next to the firehouse, claimed in their suit that the firemen harassed them starting in 2001. By 2004, the incidents became more frequent.
In one incident on April 24, 2004, the couple said firefighters returned from a banquet, pounded on the walls of the couple’s home and yelled death threats when Carter asked to quiet down, according to the lawsuit.
In June, 2006, a jury found in the couple’s favor, ordering the town to pay $2.8 million in damages to the men, in addition to $2 million in legal fees.
The three former firefighters were identified during the civil trial as being active in the harassment.
SECAUCUS – Members of a gay rights advocacy group on Tuesday night protested the Town Council giving any consideration to reinstating three volunteer firefighters who resigned two years ago after a gay couple won a multimillion-dollar harassment lawsuit against the town.
Mayor Michael Gonnelli told the standing-room only crowd, which included members of Garden State Equality as well as firefighter supporters, that the three men, Charles Snyder Sr., Charles Snyder Jr. and Charles Mutschler, told him Monday they did not wish to be reinstated.
At a rally held outside town hall an hour before the public meeting, where signs such as “Secaucus, Don’t Reinstate Hate” were displayed, Garden State Equality chairman Steven Goldstein said he learned in a meeting with the mayor Tuesday that the reinstatement wouldn’t happen.
But he said he was upset to later find out that the mayor and council were considering a resolution at the meeting to promote Charles Snyder Sr. to superintendent of the Department of Public Works. The protest then also focused on Snyder’s promotion.
“In the real world when an employee makes death threats, that employee doesn’t get a promotion. That employee is banned from the workforce of the company forever,” Goldstein said.
Goldstein said the three men, who resigned while facing town administrative charges in 2008, had also signed an agreement with the town that said they would not seek to rejoin the department.
Gonnelli, a longtime firefighter, said Snyder’s personnel record only contained commendations and he was qualified for the position.
“This was an issue about a gentleman who deserves a promotion who got it,” he said.
The mayor and council voted 6-to-1 in favor of the resolution to make Snyder superintendent.
Peter de Vries and Timothy Carter, a gay couple who lived on Schopman Drive next to the firehouse, claimed in their suit that the firemen harassed them starting in 2001. By 2004, the incidents became more frequent.
In one incident on April 24, 2004, the couple said firefighters returned from a banquet, pounded on the walls of the couple’s home and yelled death threats when Carter asked to quiet down, according to the lawsuit.
In June, 2006, a jury found in the couple’s favor, ordering the town to pay $2.8 million in damages to the men, in addition to $2 million in legal fees.
The three former firefighters were identified during the civil trial as being active in the harassment.
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