Lawyer seeks court order in Monroe attorney general discrimination case

A Monroe man who worked at Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks is asking a court to push the New York attorney general’s office to turn over records in his discrimination case, a dispute that now hinges on what the office has not answered in discovery.

Attorney Heather Abissi filed a motion to compel last week on behalf of Efrain Vazquez, asking the New York State Unified Court System to require the New York State Office of the Attorney General to answer interrogatories and produce information she says has been withheld or answered incompletely. The attorney general’s office declined to comment, and Abissi did not return a call seeking comment.

Vazquez says he developed cancer after working for days identifying the remains of victims in the aftermath of the attacks. His lawsuit says chemical exposure at Ground Zero caused the illness that later affected him, and that the state office discriminated against him because of disabilities tied to that condition. He also alleges he was pushed out of his job after he reported workplace misconduct involving a co-worker and raised concerns about workplace violence.

The case invokes the State Human Rights Law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and state whistleblower protections. Vazquez is seeking $300,000 in damages, along with attorney’s fees and other costs. Because the case is still in discovery, the immediate fight is over access to records and answers that could shape how far the lawsuit goes.

For Orange County, the case carries a local edge because Vazquez is from Monroe, a community where residents know the long reach of 9/11 health consequences did not stop at the city line. It also puts a former state employee from the county directly in conflict with the office led by Attorney General Letitia James, whose agency says it promotes equal justice and combats discrimination in employment.

The broader backdrop is the continuing medical and legal system built around 9/11 exposures. The federal World Trade Center Health Program, administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, provides medical monitoring and treatment to people exposed to dust, debris and fumes, while the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund covers physical harm or death tied to the attacks or the debris removal effort. A recent Stony Brook University study that tracked more than 12,000 World Trade Center responders found 118 lung cancer cases from July 2012 through December 2023, a reminder that the health effects from that day still shape courtrooms, clinics and public policy more than two decades later.