The city of Annandale in New York City's Staten Island borough awarded $3.75 million yesterday to Robert Walsh, a former firefighter, as settlement for an assault with a metal chair by fellow firefighter Michael Silvestri after what Walsh described as two years of ongoing anti-gay harassment:
“Walsh, 45, formerly of Annadale, sued the city and former firefighter Michael Silvestri for $100 million over ‘permanent injuries' he says he suffered when Silvestri smashed a metal chair in the side of Walsh's head at Tottenville's Engine Co. 151/Ladder Co. 76 firehouse on Dec. 31, 2003. Attorneys had been scheduled to begin summations tomorrow morning following the two-week-long civil trial in which a jury listened to doctors and witnesses testify through videotaped depositions. Walsh took the stand last week and told jurors the attack followed nearly two years of Silvestri hurling anti-gay slurs that were ignored or laughed off by firehouse supervisors.”
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