Metro

Army vet ‘fired for Sandy work’ sues to get back teaching post

A Bronx teaching assistant and US Army reservist who spent Hurricane Sandy rescuing people stranded in high floodwaters only to be fired by her principal for missing school in the aftermath of the historic storm is suing the Department of Education to get her job back.

Ninfa Soto, 46, began teaching at PS 67 in West Farms in 1988 and enlisted in the Army in 1992. She served with the Army during the Bosnia civil war, Operation Iraqi Freedom and after 9/11, according to her Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

The Army activated Soto for Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 29 and spent the next month working 16-hour shifts patrolling with cops to prevent looting, distributing food and water to shelters and cleaning up downed trees and debris, the suit states.

Soto reported her absences to the DOE as best she could during the storm and turned in a memo from her commanding officer explaining why she was gone when she returned, the suit states.

She also called in sick Nov. 21 “due to illness related to her military service during Hurricane Sandy,” the suit states.

School administrators lost the memo and when Soto turned in a new one, school principal Jeffrey Santiago reported her to the special commissioner for investigations for submitting false documents – all because of a typo in the new letter related to whether her Nov. 21 absence was a sick day or an active military absence, according to the lawsuit.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Soto attorney Jason Wolf.

The DOE’s Special Commissioner for Investigation found that Soto purposely submitted false documentation to explain her absence on Nov. 21 and she was fired May 31, the suit states.

“Principal Santiago filed a complaint with SCI in bad faith and as a pretext for illegal discrimination due to petitioner’s military status,” the suit claims.

The suit notes that Santiago had prior animus against Soto – claiming that when the two first met Santiago said, “So you’re the one who has been out for 50 days.”

Soto is seeking her job back and back pay.

A city Law Department spokeswoman declined to comment except to say, “We will review the allegations in the complaint upon receipt.”