An ex-NYPD cop involved in the Abner Louima case can’t sue his subsequent employer, Con Ed, for canning him over the connection — because he wasn’t actually convicted of assaulting the Brooklyn man, an appeals court has ruled.
Charles Schwarz’s conviction for conspiring with other cops to sodomize Louima with a broom handle was vacated in 2002 due to ineffective counsel, and a second trial resulted in a deadlocked jury.
“The legislative intent is to rehabilitate and therefore avoid recidivism by ‘ex-offenders,’ not those whose convictions have been vacated, who generally do not need rehabilitation and are not at risk of recidivism,” the five-judge Manhattan appeals panel wrote in a ruling released Tuesday.
Schwarz sued Con Ed for firing him nearly 20 years after the assault when co-workers learned about his ties to Louima and the company feared a customer-relations nightmare.
A few months into the job, a supervisor told the 51-year-old Staten Island resident that co-workers were “talking” about him and his hiring “blew up the building.”
He was terminated in late 2014 due to a “potential disruption of business operations” and “damage to the company’s reputation,” according to court papers.
Schwarz sued the utility giant in 2015, citing state and city laws that bar employers from discriminating against ex-cons.
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A spokeswoman for Con Ed said, “The court made the correct decision and we are pleased.”
Schwarz attorney Alan Serrin said the defense was “disappointed with the ruling” and mulling an appeal to the state’s highest court.
“Whether or not Mr. Schwarz was convicted of perjury or convicted of assault of Abner Louima I don’t think makes a different,” Serrins said.
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