Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted Senate Democratic leader John Sampson for allowing mayoral control of schools to expire at the same time he’s representing a woman in a suit against Chancellor Joel Klein.
Bloomberg noted that legislators are permitted to have outside law practices — but then fumed, “What’s legal in Albany sometimes defies imagination.”
On Wednesday, The Post exclusively reported that Sampson is representing an axed assistant principal in her wrongful-termination lawsuit against Klein and the Department of Education.
“I gather it is legal for him to act as a private lawyer,” Bloomberg said. “I can tell you that I would not have allowed that kind of a conflict to go on.”
Sampson filed a suit on behalf of Merlin Rosal-Hutchinson, who worked at James Madison HS in Brooklyn.
She was fired last year after berating a child with a learning disability, according to court papers filed by the city.
Sampson wants his client to be able to return to her job with back pay and is also asking the city to pay legal fees.
He also wants Klein to appear in court as a witness.
Asked to comment, Sampson said only that he supported the mayor’s earlier call for “civility” in deal with the school-governance law.
Klein refused to comment on the lawsuit. “What I’m focused on is making sure that we get mayoral control done,” he said.
A frustrated Bloomberg admitted that there was little he could do.
“If it’s legal in Albany, it’s legal in Albany,” he said.
Under current ethics rules, state lawmakers are under no obligation to reveal their clients.
Sampson — a trial lawyer who represented trouble-prone rapper Foxy Brown — is co-sponsor of a bill that would require new ethics rules for lawmakers, including the disclosure of clients who do business with the state.
However, even under the stricter rules of that proposal, Sampson’s involvement in the lawsuit against Klein wouldn’t have come to light.
Sampson indicated last month that he was not in favor of disclosing his private clients who have nothing to do with state government.
Additional reporting by Brendan Scott