A city transportation boss acted like a slavemaster to a Taino Indian underling — even hanging a pair of shackles in the man’s office to make sure he knew his role, a new lawsuit alleges.
“I was hurt by it — it was a horrible, horrible feeling,” Michael Casiano told The Post. “I had to walk into the office seeing this every day, reminding me that this was a message for me, saying ‘You’re my slave.’ ”
Casiano, 47, says in his Manhattan Supreme Court suit that things went south soon after he began working as a Department of Transportation safety inspector for Ed Cousillas, 56, the safety director of the St. George Ferry Terminal on Staten Island.
“He’d have me go pick up his breakfast, his lunch. He’d ask me to pick up boxes from the storage room, which was not in my job description,” Casiano told The Post.
Cousillas also singled out Casiano, who was the only minority in the safety division, for his heritage, according to the racial-discrimination lawsuit.
“There were a lot of comments he made because I follow the Taino Indian culture, and his family is from Spain,” said Casiano, whose ancestry includes native people from the Caribbean.
“He made comments, like, ‘We’re going to do it Ed’s way, not the Taino way,’ ” he recalled. “On Columbus Day, he joked, ‘I’m going to enslave all the Taino women.’ ”
Then, in July 2014, Cousillas hung a pair of black plastic replica shackles on the wall beside Casiano’s desk, the suit claims.
“Similar shackles were used by Spanish explorers in Puerto Rico to detain and transport African slaves, Taino Indian people and people of Hispanic descent,” the suit says.
Casiano said he took down the shackles, but they reappeared. He reported the incident to Human Resources — and believes the complaint cost him his job.
“Essentially, they created a bunch of very minor violations, claiming he was derelict in his duties when it came to getting to work on time,’’ said Casiano’s lawyer, Christopher Mason.
Casiano, the father of two daughters, says he was finally forced out of his $100,000-a-year job in September 2016.
Cousillas did not return a message from The Post seeking comment, but a co-worker of both men said he was “unbiased’’ and “by the book.’’
A DOT spokesman said Casiano was guilty of “egregious performance of duty, with infractions including repeated violations of federal regulations as well falsifying documents.” The rep said Casiano resigned when faced with firing, and Cousillas remains “an employee in good standing.’’
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