The City Council has dropped an ethics complaint against Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Whitestone) while the legislator has withdrawn her lawsuit against the body.
Paladino on March 2 was charged with engaging in disorderly behavior and violating the Council’s anti-harassment and discrimination policies after the committee that handles ethics accused her of making Islamophobic comments on social media back in December and February.
Paladino on March 9 filed a lawsuit calling her remarks constitutionally protected free speech.
A four-page joint stipulation was published Monday, and said both the ethics complaint and lawsuit were withdrawn with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled.
Within 48 hours of the court’s approval, Paladino must release the following statement:
“The disciplinary charge against me has been withdrawn and I am withdrawing my lawsuit. To be clear, my personal social-media posts were not directed at any City Council Member or staff. I am responsible for the content. I never intended to make Council Members or staff feel unwelcome or unsafe in their work environment. I send a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to the court for facilitating this resolution.
Councilwoman Sandra Ung (D-Flushing), chair of the Committee on Rules, Privileges, Elections, Standards and Ethics, posted her agreed-upon statement on social media Monday.
“The disciplinary charge against Council Member Paladino has been withdrawn, and she has withdrawn her lawsuit. I appreciate that CM Paladino took down her tweets I also want to thank the court for facilitating settlement discussions. I believe this resolution strikes the right balance between protection of Council staff and the First Amendment liberties of Council Members. I met with CM Paladino and told her that I did not approve of the contents of her tweets.”
Both sides have agreed to make no public comment on the case to the press, on social media or elsewhere beyond what is written in the stipulation, which was signed by New York Supreme Court Justice Sabrina Kraus.
Kraus retains jurisdiction to enforce any violation of the agreement.
Paladino has agreed to remove the term ‘Council Woman’ from her personal social media account and remove the posts at issue. Her attorney, Jim Walden has agreed to waive any claim for legal fees.
The councilwoman posted her first comments last December after the murder of 15 Jews at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia.
Paladino posted comments on X that included calling for the expulsion of Muslims from Western nations and developing a legal format to denaturalize some in the United States “before we wind up with another 9/11 or worse.”
This past February, commenting on an appointment by Mayor Mamdani, Paladino asked, “Does this administration have one single actual American in it?”
Paladino has arguing that her posts are protected constitutionally political speech.
Her suit also alleged that she was the target of selective enforcement, citing numerous times that Democratic members of the Council engaged in inflammatory language, most with no investigations resulting.