Scientist at Nassau County crime lab says she was fired for exposing unethical, improper practices, lawsuit contends
The Nassau County Crime Lab in Westbury in 2019. Credit: Howard Schnapp
A forensic scientist at the Nassau County crime lab is alleging she was fired for exposing unethical and improper practices by other crime lab employees, including a claim that crime lab workers inaccurately revised scientific findings for political purposes, a lawsuit alleges.
Former crime lab employee Robyn Fishkin, in a federal lawsuit filed Friday, said her participation in an investigation by inspectors general for the county and state into various alleged wrongdoing at the crime lab led to her being ostracized in the workplace and eventually wrongfully terminated.
Nassau County spokesman Chris Boyle did not respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday.
Fishkin could not be reached for comment. Her attorney, Paul Bartels, of the Bell Law Group in Syosset, did not respond to a message seeking comment.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- A forensic scientist at the Nassau County crime lab is alleging she was fired for exposing unethical and improper practices by other crime lab employees, including a claim crime lab workers inaccurately revised scientific findings for political purposes, a lawsuit alleges.
- Former crime lab employee Robyn Fishkin said her participation in an investigation by inspectors general for the county and state into various alleged wrongdoing at the crime lab led to her being ostracized in the workplace and eventually wrongfully terminated.
The lab has a history of dysfunction. It was closed in 2011 amid reports of drug testing inaccuracies that led to dozens of defendants facing higher-level charges than warranted. It regained accreditation in 2013.
The Nassau County crime lab has a history of dysfunction. The lab was placed on probation in 2006 after inspectors found multiple serious violations, including improper drug labeling procedures and technicians who were insufficiently trained, Newsday has reported.
The lab was closed in 2011 amid reports of drug testing inaccuracies that led to dozens of defendants facing higher-level charges than warranted. It regained its accreditation in 2013.
Fishkin’s suit accuses Nassau County and the Office of the Medical Examiner, which oversees the crime lab, of violating a state Civil Service law prohibiting retaliation against whistleblowers and violating her First Amendment right to free speech. The lawsuit also accuses the county of firing her on April 24, 2024, due to their perception that she had a disability, in violation of the state's Human Rights Law.
The suit seeks damages of at least $100,000.
Fishkin began working at the crime lab in November 2012 and achieved the position of "forensic scientist III" in the latent print section, which made her "the most senior analyst assigned to case work," the lawsuit said. She was paid $106,889 in 2024, according to state payroll records maintained by the Empire Center, a nonpartisan Albany-based think tank.
In September 2021, Fishkin began cooperating with the Nassau County inspector general in an investigation into "potential illegal activity" at the county crime lab, which included in-person interviews during which Fishkin "provided information about what she believed to be illegal and unethical activities on the part of the Crime Lab," the lawsuit said.
Fishkin, in the lawsuit, said the alleged illegal activities included "the misuse of government funds and improper, unlawful, and inaccurate revisions of scientific findings to fit the political agendas of the defendants. In particular, there was a cover-up of an error from a 2005 sexual assault case where the suspect was later convicted of a 2006 high-profile homicide."
The lawsuit did not include additional details about the allegations of impropriety.
A spokeswoman for the Nassau County District Attorney's Office declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
The office of the state inspector general declined to comment. The county's inspector general's office could not be reached.
On the day Fishkin was terminated, the county alleged on April 28, 2023, she "refused to bring recordings to the [Nassau County District Attorney's Office] that contained potential discovery materials," the lawsuit said, adding Fishkin had "previously turned over all recordings" to the district attorney's office.
The county also issued Fishkin a referral for a medical examination pursuant to Section 72 of the Civil Service Law, which governs procedures for employees deemed mentally or physically unable to perform their work duties, but she was no longer eligible to undergo the examination because she had been terminated, the suit said.
The county later "demanded and received Plaintiff’s mental health records from her practitioner despite her no longer being an employee," the suit said.
At the beginning of the 2021 investigation into the crime lab, lab staffer Sandra McNulty sent an email to staff about "improper CODIS/DNA disclosure and penalties to intimidate [Fishkin] because of her participation in the investigation," according to the suit.
Karen Dooling, the laboratory's assistant director, emailed staff to announce a management investigation into data security and unauthorized dissemination of case information about two months after Fishkin began cooperating with the outside investigation, the lawsuit said.
The county began retaliating against her in March 2022, the lawsuit argues, when Fishkin claims her promotion to "forensic scientist III" was "improperly delayed" as retaliation for her whistleblower activities.
Fishkin was awarded the promotion and $103 after she filed a grievance against the county. The promotion's effective date was not backdated, however.
Fishkin was formally disciplined on May 25, 2022, by the leadership team of the medical examiner's office, which alleged she had engaged in "improper data access," the lawsuit said, adding Fishkin was not provided with specific allegations of the alleged transgression.
In that same month, lab director Pasquale Buffolino reported Fishkin to the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, the suit said. Buffolino "called her integrity into question and improperly accused her of malfeasance" in a report that "contained inaccurate information," the suit said.
Fishkin said lab management "unjustly reported her to be investigated for voicing legitimate laboratory quality concerns" and "subjected to increased scrutiny of her work and ostracization in the workplace," the suit said.
It also claims two Nassau County investigators left a letter from Buffolino and other lab managers that "threatened [her] with termination with no legitimate reason" at her home on May 11, 2023 — a day she had taken off from work.
"Management further harassed and intimidated Plaintiff by unnecessarily dispatching two anonymous Nassau County investigators to her private residence outside of Nassau County, trespassed on her private property where they proceeded to tape an unmarked/unsealed envelope with a letter inside of it to her interior door while using aggressive posturing and profane language," the suit said.
Four days later, Fishkin was demoted, which resulted in her being "removed from all duties," the suit said. Fishkin "continually asked for work but those requests were ignored."
In August 2023, Fishkin's lawyer filed a summons and complaint in Nassau Supreme Court alleging whistleblower retaliation against the county.
On Sept. 7, 2023, Fishkin's supervisors alleged she "engaged in insubordination and disrespecting co-workers/supervisor when she was allegedly 'rude and disrespectful'" to Chris Bernier, who was Fishkin's supervisor, in September 2022.
The suit also alleged the county "deliberately excluded" Fishkin from office events and in one alleged instance, Bernier replied "good" when another employee relayed that Fishkin could have been killed when served shrimp at lunch that day despite suffering a life-threatening allergy.
"This disgusting comment is an indication of the disdain the Defendants had towards [Fishkin]," the suit said.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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