Levin to get his pension

After a year and a half of fighting the office of state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Rockville Centre Village Attorney A. Thomas Levin has been vindicated, as DiNapoli's decision to withhold his pension has been overturned.

Levin had been one of five Long Island attorneys who were notified by DiNapoli that their state pensions were being revoked. He was informed of the decision that overturned that ruling in a March 23 letter from the comptroller’s office which, during its investigation, ruled that Levin was entitled to his pension.

"I said [in November] that the comptroller was wrong, and I was right," Levin said.

The battle started after Levin was informed in November 2009 in a letter from the comptroller's office that he was not eligible for the state pension he had been receiving. The letter explained that Levin, 66, was not a public employee and was therefore not entitled to the pension of approximately $10,000 a year.

According to DiNapoli, the Village of North Hills incorrectly reported that Levin, its former attorney, was an employee from 1980 to 1999 — years during which North Hills paid Levin's law firm thousands of dollars in consulting fees for his services. His status as an employee enabled him to amass credits toward a state pension, which he began collecting after he retired as North Hills's attorney in 1999.

DiNapoli said that while working for North Hills, Levin did not work set hours or submit time sheets, and did the work in an office at his law firm. Levin, a lifelong Rockville Centre resident who works for the law firm Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein P.C. and was president of the Nassau County Bar Association from 1991 to 1992, and and has been special counsel to the Village of Rockville Centre.

"I'm pleased that they've finally come around to this," he said. "I'm not pleased that I spent a year and a half going through this thing ... and had to do everything that was necessary to fight this. And it was unnecessary in the first place. But all's well that ends well, I guess."

Comments about this story?ACostello@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.