MONTICELLO – Before David Sager was hired as Monticello’s village manager, he served deputy commissioner of the Sullivan County Division of Family Services.
He was fired from that post when he reported alleged cases of sexual abuse that then-Commissioner Randy Parker did not investigate.
Sager filed suit against the county citing state whistleblower law, but that was rejected on a technicality that he did not file a notice of claim against the county within 90 days. State Supreme Court issued that ruling, which was upheld in the Appellate Division.
His attorney, Michael Sussman, believes it is a very important case for employees around the state.
“Rather than erecting barriers to the suits by whistleblowers, the court should be receptive to those suits, which seems to me consistent with the legislative purpose and try to vindicate the important public purposes of that statute,” Sussman said.
He has now filed with the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals,
seeking to have it hear the case in hopes of overruling the two lower
court decisions.
