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Settlement reached in Muslim man’s suit against Youngstown
YOUNGSTOWN
A settlement has been reached in a federal religious- and ethnic- discrimination civil lawsuit by an assistant city prosecutor against his boss and the city.
In the settlement of the suit he filed in May 2009, Bassil Ally, a Muslim of Middle Eastern descent, will get a lump sum of $110,000 and a $4,000 annual pay raise, said Anthony Farris, city law director. Ally now earns $61,621 a year.
The lump sum will come from Midwest Claims, the city’s insurance company, because the city has already met its $50,000 deductible by paying legal fees for the outside lawyers chosen by the insurance company, Farris said.
City Prosecutor Jay Macejko will write a letter of apology to Ally, but no settlement money will come from Macejko’s pocket, even though he was sued, Farris said.
The settlement was reached Thursday on the eve of a jury trial that would have begun Monday in Cleveland before U.S. District Court Judge Christopher A. Boyko.
“The judge encouraged a settlement, and we were able to reach one, and we’d also like to put this whole matter behind us,” Farris said. “Bassil is a very good prosecutor. He’s been here nine years now, and hasn’t had a raise in six. He deserves it,” Farris said.
“Both Jay and Bassil are good people. ... I’m happy to work with both of them. They both do fine jobs,” Farris said.
Farris said the city agreed to the settlement in part because a trial lasting one to two weeks would have disrupted the operation of the city’s law department and prosecutor’s office, with key personnel in those offices either being parties or witnesses in the case.
“We think we’ve achieved a favorable settlement, which vindicated Mr. Ally and allows him to continue to work for the city of Youngstown,” said Daniel M. Connell of Cleveland, Ally’s lawyer. “The settlement and the fact that judgment will be entered against the city speaks volumes.”
Besides Macejko and the city, Ally initially had sued then-Mayor Jay Williams and then-Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello, but Judge Boyko removed Williams and Guglucello as defendants.
In his lawsuit, Ally said he had been harassed because of his faith and Middle Eastern descent and that Macejko threatened his job because he took a late lunch break at 1:30 p.m. each Friday to attend a service at his mosque.
The suit said Ally was subjected to derogatory comments regarding his religion and national origin by a co-worker and another city employee.
Ally said he told his supervisors when he was hired that he’d need an accommodation to his work schedule to attend Friday mosque services, the suit said.
The suit said that arrangement changed when Macejko called a Friday afternoon meeting and told Ally he’d be fired if he didn’t attend.
Ally was placed on administrative leave after he went to the mosque instead of the meeting, but was returned to work after he filed a religious-discrimination charge with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.
After he filed that charge, Ally claimed he was harassed when he was reassigned to a courtroom that regularly meets Friday afternoons. The city denied Ally’s claims made in his complaint.
Farris said Ally is now permitted to attend religious services on Fridays, and his lunch-break schedule is adjusted to accommodate his attendance at the mosque.