A former firefighter who agreed to cough up more than $1 million in unpaid taxes on his Brooklyn bar filed suit yesterday over lung ailments and other maladies he claims to have suffered since working at Ground Zero.
Thomas Casatelli says helping search for victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks left him with “post traumatic stress disorder, asthma, shortness of breath, sore throat, dry productive cough, wheezing, amongst other injuries.”
His Manhattan federal court suit seeks unspecified damages from the city and the Port Authority for alleged negligence because he “was never provided nor required to wear any personal protective equipment.”
Court papers say Casatelli filed a “notice of claim” on the last possible day in 2010 under a law that extended the deadline for sickened first responders to seek compensation for their injuries.
Three months later, Casatelli pleaded guilty in a five-year scheme to evade taxes on his popular Bay Ridge watering hole, The Kettle Black, by paying workers off the books and filing false returns.
His plea deal called for Casatelli to serve 90 days in the slammer and pay $1.3 million in restitution.
City lawyer Kenneth Becker said officials were “reviewing the claims” in Casatelli’s suit.
bgolding@nypost.com