A Hudson Valley man with Tourette syndrome says he was fired for repeatedly but involuntarily dropping the F-bomb on the job, although co-workers cursed constantly.
Michael Staropoli, 61, was a surgery tech at St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Orange County for nearly five years and says profanity in the workplace was common and accepted among his colleagues — unless it came out of his mouth.
Other St. Luke’s workers “would yell and curse on an almost daily basis” but were not disciplined for doing so, Staropoli claims in a Manhattan federal lawsuit.
A married father of three from Newburgh, Staropoli says he doesn’t curse by choice, but only when he is unable to suppress his condition. Tourette’s sufferers display behavior they can’t control, including tics, twitching and outbursts.
Despite working in a medical facility, no one was sympathetic to his disorder, with colleagues frequently calling him “mentally ill,” “crazy,” or “not all there,” Staropoli claims.
“These are medical people. It’s not like I work in a factory,” he told The Post.
Supervisors ignored his complaints, according to Staropoli, who “felt intimidated, ridiculed and isolated.” He is seeking unspecified damages. The hospital declined to comment.