POUGHKEEPSIE – Three former Dutchess County assistant district attorneys have filed notice they intend to sue Dutchess County and District Attorney Anthony Parisi, who took office on January 1, 2024. Shortly after taking office, Parisi terminated three “at will” employees; Bob Knapp, Cindy Murphy, and Kristine Whelan. All three claim to have suffered financial losses, and damaged reputations.
Prosecutor Knapp worked for Dutchess County from February 1995 to January 11, 2024. After being terminated by Parisi, Knapp, along with fellow fired prosecutor Cindy Murphy, were both hired by the Ulster County District Attorney, doing very similar work and are covered by the same retirement system, the New York State and Local Retirement System. Former Dutchess prosecutor Kristine Whelan has been hired by the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office.
Knapp claims that after he was terminated, he was immediately locked out of the Dutchess County-owned laptop computer assigned to him, which he admitted to using for the storage of a multitude of personal records including “veteran military tax records, family tax records, family medical records, and other personal family records,” in addition to his legal education training records. Knapp says it took two months for the records to be returned on a thumb drive but he is uncertain if the returned records are the complete files.
In an almost verbatim Notice of Claim filed by Whelan, using the same New Jersey attorney representing Knapp, says her January 11 termination also resulted in immediately being locked out of the county computer system. Whelan says her office computer was confiscated right after she was fired, which prevented her from accessing her personal files stored on the county-owned computer. The files, Whelan says, included “work product, photos, family medical information, and information related to her deceased parents.” Whelan, like Knapp, says the Dutchess County DA’s office received a thumb drive “with some personal files, but none of her almost 30 years of work product” or legal education records.
Cindy Murphy chose to represent herself when filing her Notice of Claim seeking compensation after being terminated on January 11. The Ulster County ADA says that she was fired 11 months prior to reaching 30 years of service with Dutchess County and there was an agreement in which Dutchess County agreed to pay 80 percent of the cost of her medical insurance for life and 65 percent of her family’s medical insurance after completing 25 years of service. The prosecutor claims that Dutchess County has “failed and refused to honor this term of my employment, declining to provide payment for any share of my family health insurance plan.”
Murphy says her termination by Parisi has caused economic losses because she has been forced to pay the entire cost of comparable family health insurance, which she describes as a “substantial monthly expense for myself and my children.” Murphy says the termination damaged her reputation and she plans to sue for defamation of character.
Knapp and Whelan are seeking full restoration of their medical benefits, severance pay, full pension benefits, and damages. Knapp is also seeking the return of his personal property.
The claimants were unavailable for comment. Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi admitted that he consulted with the Dutchess County Attorney’s Office prior to the terminations to ensure the personnel issues were handled in a way to prevent unwarranted litigation. On the Notices of Claim Parisi to Mid-Hudson News, “My office does not comment on matters of pending litigation and questions should be directed to the Dutchess County Attorney’s Office.”
