By Matthew McGevna
The jury in the case, Mary Lou Bensy v. Malverne Union Free School District, dismissed a charge that then-Superintendent Anthony Pecorale Jr. sexually harassed Bensy, but found the district liable for unfairly firing her after she accused Pecorale of the harassment.
Now it will be up to the judge to decide how much Bensy should be awarded, a potential judgment ranging from $100,000 to $600,000, depending on whether the judge awards her compensation for lost wages and reimbursement for her legal fees. Post-trial motions are due in court on Sept. 7.
The case began in March 2004, when Bensy, a longtime Malverne resident, was fired as the district¹s director of special education. The school district maintains that she was fired after an independent consultant evaluated her job performance and filed a negative report. Months earlier, however, Bensy had filed a complaint against Pecorale, claiming that he sexually assaulted her twice over a period of three months, pinning her against a wall and groping her.
Bensy¹s lawyers, Rick Ostrove and Thomas Ricotta, argued that the evaluation of Bensy¹s performance was anything but independent. The consultant, Charles Althoff, had been Pecorale¹s assistant superintendent in the Connetquot School District for two years and, Bensy¹s lawyers maintained, was hand-picked by Pecorale to conduct the evaluation of Bensy. During the trial, Pecorale admitted that he worked with Althoff between 1997 and 1999.
In a telephone interview, Ostrove described Pecorale¹s hiring of Althoff to evaluate Bensy as a clear conflict of interest. He added that he was relieved the jury saw it that way too. ³I¹m very happy that we were successful here,² Ostrove said. ³My client is an exceptional woman. She loves Malverne, and she worked hard for the students in Malverne. Unfortunately, education wasn¹t a top priority [of the district] in this case.²
In a written statement, the district said it was ³perplexed² that a jury would find Pecorale not liable for sexual harassment, yet still find that Bensy¹s firing constituted retaliation on the part of the district. ³The Board of Education is now reviewing the verdict and considering its options,² the statement read. The district maintains that Bensy was fired because of her poor evaluations.
³They blamed her for the problems in the special education department, but in the meantime there were three special education directors in three years, and four superintendents in four years,² Ostrove said. ³Continuity was the issue there. She was trying to right the ship.²
For her part, Bensy said she considers the verdict redemption, and a way for her to repair her damaged reputation. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in special education at Hofstra University and teaching at the collegiate level. She told the Herald that although Malverne is a small village, she is no longer planning to be shy about becoming involved in the community once more.
³The [local] reaction has been very supportive,² Bensy said. ³Hopefully this will be put to rest. I can pick myself up and walk back into the community. I¹m sorry this had to happen, but the truth remains the same no matter what. This was a matter of justice being served.²
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