Judge in Plummer Case Questions Quinn Lawyer
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Judge William Pauley III sharply questioned the City Council Speaker’s attorney yesterday at a hearing on the wrongful termination lawsuit brought by Council Member Charles Barron’s former chief of staff, Viola Plummer.
Mr. Pauley treated with skepticism many of the defense’s claims that Plummer’s “disruptive” behavior made her firing an open-and-shut case, and the judge repeatedly asked the defense to define specific disruptions that had been caused by her behavior.
Speaker Christine Quinn suspended Plummer, 70, after the aide said in May that she would stop Council Member Leroy Comrie’s run for president of Queens even “if it takes an assassination.” In July, Plummer sued Ms. Quinn, alleging that the loss of her job inflicted “severe mental anguish and emotional distress,” and constituted racial discrimination. Mr. Pauley said he would reach a decision “very quickly” on whether the case would move to trial. Lawyers for the council speaker want the judge to dismiss the suit.
“There are simply no matters of fact that would require a trial,” an attorney representing Ms. Quinn, James Lemonedes, told the judge.
