Ex-cop in Abner Louima case claims he was fired from Con Ed over his past

Feb 21, 2015

A former police officer who was convicted in the case of Abner Louima is suing Con Ed and claiming that his own civil rights have been violated.

Charles Schwarz is suing to get his job back and to receive back pay as well as to receive monetary damages for “anguish and pain and suffering” from Con Ed’s “discriminatory conduct.”

Schwarz was one of the officers charged with the civil rights violations and gross mistreatment of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who was sodomized with a broom handle.

Schwarz claims he had already informed Con Ed’s gas division of his conviction after taking written and other exams in order to qualify for the job as a mechanic. He claims he was told that he was let go because of “potential disruption of business operations” and “damage to the company’s reputation.”

“You can’t fire someone for potential disruption to company operations,” Schwarz’s lawyer, Alan Serrins, said. Serrins says the state’s civil rights laws prevent companies from refusing to hire ex-convicts unless a direct link can be shown between the convict’s conviction and the business itself or its operations or unless hiring the convict leads to “unreasonable risk to property or the safety or welfare” of other employees.