Public Employee Press

Court awards beaten member $295,000

“Cowboy cops” of Port Authority brutally battered Local 375 cleanup construction manager Michael Kenny at Ground Zero

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

A federal jury awarded $295,000 to a Local 375 member who was brutalized by Port Authority police while he worked on the Ground Zero cleanup.

On April 13, 2002, a group of Port Authority cops viciously turned on Construction Project Manager Michael Kenny when he came to the aid of a co-worker, Clint Collins, who was being assaulted by the police.

“It’s a relief that this is over,” said Kenny, health and safety chair of Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375. “These officers really stepped over the line. It’s like they feel they are insulated from any accountability whatsoever.”

In the assault, the police broke Kenny’s collarbone, inflicted eye, rib and leg injuries, and finally arrested him.

Police charges thrown out
In a 2003 criminal trial, Kenny was cleared of charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, obstruction of justice and harassment. He then moved forward with his civil lawsuit against the Port Authority, which was responsible for law enforcement at the 9/11 site.

From the beginning, Kenny’s co-workers stood by him. In an unprecedented decision to support a member facing criminal charges, Local 375 agreed to advance his legal fees as he sought justice.

“Mike was part of a team from the Department of Design and Construction who were the unsung heroes of the 10-month cleanup at Ground Zero,” Local 375 President Claude Fort said. “We knew in our hearts that he wasn’t guilty. And we were horrified that a group of rogue cops would assault fellow workers at the site.”

The beating occurred when Collins, a Laborer, confronted a group of Port Authority cops. Supporters of Collins and Kenny characterized the police officers who attacked them as cowboys who had taken unauthorized guests down a ramp into the bowels of Ground Zero in a tour of the site without stopping at the checkpoint monitored by Collins.

Kenny’s award included $200,000 for pain and suffering plus additional amounts for legal fees and wages lost during his recuperation. He will reimburse the local for the legal expenses it bankrolled. Attorney Chris Downes of the Manhattan law firm O’Dwyer & Bernstein handled his case.

Local 375 Treasurer Ron Vega, who worked with Kenny and the 80-member DDC team that coordinated the cleanup at Ground Zero, said he was glad Kenny’s court ordeal was over. Vega, Local 375 member Charlie Kaczorowsi and Kenny’s wife, Brenda, testified at the trial.

But Vega told PEP he felt the award was too low and reflected an anti-worker bias on the part of a jury made up primarily of upper-middle class people who viewed the case from a narrow dollars and cents perspective. They failed to compensate Kenny adequately for his pain and suffering, Vega said.

“The New York Police Department has a civilian complaint review board, and that is something that the Port Authority department needs,” Vega said. “This was an outrageous abuse of police power.”