Two attorneys sue comptroller to keep public pensions

Two private attorneys who have collected more than $1 million in public pensions are suing the state comptroller for determining they were not entitled to the pensions. William Englander, once carried as an employee on six school district payrolls at the same time, and Dominick Minerva, who was similarly hired by four government entities, say in separate lawsuits that they were denied due process when Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office determined they were acting as independent contractors, not public employees. Englander, 82, of Port Washington, had been collecting a pension of about $25,000 a year until February, when he was stripped of the pension and ordered to pay back $154,318. Records show Englander was carried on the payrolls of the North Merrick, North Bellmore, Bellmore-Merrick, Smithtown, Mineola and Bellmore school districts. Minerva, 68, of Lido Beach, collects a pension of $98,859. In October, the comptroller's office informed him that some of his pension credits were invalid because records showed he was an independent contractor at Lawrence Sanitary District #1, the Water Authority of Western Nassau, the Nassau County Bridge Authority and the Lawrence school district. His pension has not been suspended. A comptroller's spokeswoman said the office is still reviewing the case and awaiting the outcome of the court proceeding. In a statement, DiNapoli's office said each case is reviewed individually. "No decisions are made in haste. We are confident that the Comptroller's office's determinations will continue to be upheld." The actions against Englander and Minerva resulted from a statewide review of all attorneys in the retirement system. DiNapoli began the review in April 2008, after a series of Newsday stories detailing pension abuses. Three other Long Island attorneys - Albert D'Agostino, Nat Swergold and William Cullen - have sued to block the state's investigation into whether they were improperly given pension credits. In April, a Supreme Court justice in Albany ruled the lawyers could not block the investigation, but could seek an administrative remedy in their cases.