County spokesman settles discrimination lawsuit against deputy Orange executive

GOSHEN - An Orange County spokesman has settled a religious and ethnicity discrimination lawsuit he filed against his former supervisor last month.

The spokesman, Justin Rodriguez, is also leaving his job.

Rodriguez, who has served as an assistant to the county executive for Orange County since 2015, functioned as an official county spokesman in that role. Rodriguez formerly worked as a sports reporter for the Times Herald-Record.

In his lawsuit, he noted that his mother is Jewish and his father is of Puerto Rican descent.

He alleged Deputy County Executive Harold Porr, who had been his direct supervisor until about August 2022, was aware of his ancestry and created a hostile work environment based on that background.

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According to Rodriguez, Porr was aware Rodriguez did not practice Judaism but would mockingly ask him if he was going to temple or synagogue in a disparaging manner, and would refer to Jewish people who visited the office, including Hasidic Jews from the village of Kiryas Joel, as his "cousins."

Rodriguez said he refrained from making any official complaint for fear of retaliation by Porr.

However, Rodriguez said in the lawsuit that Porr's "demeaning and disparaging conduct" against him intensified in the spring of 2022.

During a meeting with other employees in April 2022, Rodriguez said he took offense when Porr said he would be voting for Rodriguez for governor and he would be "the first Puerto Rican Jew governor."

Later that month, when Rodriguez was the last person to arrive at a staff meeting, as he neared the conference room he heard Porr refer to him by asking several times, "Where is Diego?"

His lawsuit cited numerous other examples of Porr's alleged demeaning and disparaging conduct toward him.

Rodriguez filed an official complaint with the county in June 2022. In his lawsuit, he said an outside law firm hired by the county to investigate his complaint reported to him in August 2022 that Porr had violated the county's policy against discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

Rodriguez said while Porr was then removed as his direct supervisor, he had to continue working with him on a daily basis, and he said Porr treated him with disdain when no one else was present. He said Porr would often glare at him in his office, making him feel very uncomfortable.

In his lawsuit, Rodriguez asked for a jury trial and sought unspecified amounts of compensatory and punitive damages.

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Rodriguez's attorney Chris Watkins would not say what the terms of the settlement were, only that the parties "have reached a resolution." He also said Rodriguez decided to leave his position with the county "to pursue other opportunities."

"He wishes his colleagues at the county nothing but the best for the future," Watkins said in a statement.

County Attorney Richard B. Golden had no comment on the settlement.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com or on Twitter @mikerandall845.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Religious, ethnic discrimination lawsuit against Orange County settled