‘Felt genuinely threatened’

S.I. parks workers complain about boss

A bullying city parks department supervisor accidentally phoned one of his workers and berated his staff in an expletive-filled rant during which he used a homophobic slur to describe one of the employees, according to internal complaints.

Workers alleged an unhinged Joseph Morreale chewed out staffers at a Staten Island park last week before storming off to make a phone call — to one of the very workers he was complaining about, the employees claimed.

When he realized his error, Morreale doubled back and allegedly begged the workers to keep quiet about the incident, the latest in what they said was a string of abusive behavior at an unhealthy workplace.

“For almost the entire time it has been a toxic work environment and have witnessed the supervisor do, say and behave very questionably,” maintenance worker Kristian Cuzco wrote in an email to his union representative and the city’s labor relations office.

“There’s been incidents when he has gotten into staff’s face aggressively ready to fight. Very demeaning to his staff. I have witnessed him curse directly to staff. Now I understand things like this should have been formally reported, however, there’s a general fear of retaliation on Staten Island. It is a very small place and people talk about the fear of what would happen if we speak up.”

Workers said the Oct. 6 incident started when M or real e—on his day off— stormed into Staten Island’s High Rock Park and confronted Cuzco (photo) about being five minutes late. Earlier, they said, Morreale had called around looking for other workers to check on Cuzco.

Staffers said Morreale followed Cuzco into a men’s restroom and waited outside a stall. Cuzco said his boss was standing so close that he could see Morreale’s shoes underneath the door, and that when he stood up to get out, he had to ask Morreale to step back.

Cuzco, 31, told the Daily News that Morreale accused him of lying about his arrival time.

“I said, ‘Joe, I’ve been here early, it’s not my fault you ar en’ thereto see who is here or not,’ ” Cuzco said.

With that, Cuzco said, Morreale stormed off and drove away. Moments later, co-worker George Darden said he received a call from Morreale that was intended for someone else.

Darden said he put the call on speaker so the other workers could hear Morreale’s rant.

“All I got the chance to say was, ‘hello,’” Darden said. “He doesn’t know who he’s talking to and says, ‘I hate these motherf——-s. Every last fu——g one of them, I hate their fu——g guts and that fa—ot Kristian thinks I’m stupid.’ ”

Darden said his boss finally caught his breath.

“I wait a little bit and say, ‘How you doing Joe,’ ” Darden recalled. “This is George you’re talking to.’ ”

Darden said Morreale urged him to keep quiet about the phone call, but Darden saidhe toldhimthat he had gone too far. Cuzco and several others said they felt threatened, and said they were uncomfortable continuing to work for Morreale.

“I felt genuinely threatened,” Cuzco said. “I felt like he was really going to do something. Honestly, I have two cousins who are gay, and I took it very personally. I felt dumbfounded that somebody who is in charge of employees who have never done anything to him can have that much hate in his heart. I don’t feel like anybody in charge should have that much hate in their heart.”

Cuzco, Darden and several others fired off emails to a union representative, a parks department official and the city’s labor relations office.

A Parks Department spokeswoman, Crystal Howard, said the incident was under review.

“Our advocates office is investigating the allegations against Mr. Morreale,” Howard said in a statement. “Until the investigation is complete, he is working at an alternate worksite where he is not supervising staff.”

Morreale, when reached by the News, denied the phone call and the confrontation took place, and declined to comment further.

Union representative Dilcy Benn, president of Local 1505 of District Council 37, said the department had assured her that while the investigation was underway, workers would not be reporting to Morreale.

“I’m looking into it,” Thomas Russo, chief of operations in Stat en Island for the Parks Department, told Benn in an email. “Morreale will be distant for now. They should be getting their direction from Steve Cain, their administrator today.”

But workers said Morreale was in the office the next two days, and some of them said they left the site or called in sick to avoid him.

They said they were docked pay for leaving or not showing up.

Workers also complained that Morreale would ask employees to go into the woods with heavy tools to do work by themselves in areas outside of cell service.

Parks worker Bernard Maguire said he was hurt at work after Morreale allegedly put him in a dangerous situation.

“I was injured on the job because I was put by myself on a trail after I told him I didn’t feel safe doing that and sprained my ankle,” Maguire said in one of the emails. “I was in a dead zone and had to walk for 50 minutes before I had cell reception.”

Cuzco said he just wants to go to work and do his job.

“You’ re not going to like every boss you have,” Cuzco said. “But there has to be a certain level of respect between an employee and an employer.”