Alexander Klein secured a unanimous jury verdict in Nassau County state court on behalf of Stephen Gallo, a longtime Town of Hempstead employee whose career in the Town Attorney’s Office was disrupted after his employer received an anonymous email accusing him of workplace misconduct.
Following closing arguments, the jury deliberated for less than an hour before finding the defendant liable for tortious interference with business relations. The jury awarded Mr. Gallo economic damages, emotional distress damages, and punitive damages.
An Anonymous Email and a Career Upended
Mr. Gallo had worked in the Town Attorney’s Office for nearly two decades when the Town of Hempstead received an anonymous email purporting to come from an attorney representing a victim of workplace misconduct. The email made allegations concerning Mr. Gallo and a woman he was dating.
Mr. Gallo’s case maintained that those allegations were false and that the email had been sent by his former girlfriend, Jenny Bonilla, following the deterioration of their relationship.
The email included two video attachments that became central to the evidence at trial. Ms. Bonilla had recorded the videos during a trip with Mr. Gallo in the summer of 2022, when she accessed his cellphone and filmed sexually explicit messages exchanged with another woman. She acknowledged sharing those recordings only with Mr. Gallo and a police officer.
Within eight days of the Town’s receipt of the anonymous email, Mr. Gallo was removed from his longtime position in the Town Attorney’s Office and reassigned to Parks and Recreation.
Proving the Connection at Trial
At trial, Mr. Klein presented evidence to establish that Ms. Bonilla had sent the anonymous email and that it caused the disruption of Mr. Gallo’s longstanding employment relationship with the Town.
The case also addressed the continuing consequences for Mr. Gallo’s career. Despite earning a perfect score of 100 on his civil service examination, he was subsequently passed over for promotion in favor of candidates with lower scores. He has not returned to his position in the Town Attorney’s Office.
Beyond the financial consequences, Mr. Gallo sought compensation for the emotional distress associated with losing the work and professional identity he had built over nearly twenty years.
Ms. Bonilla denied authoring the email and disputed that it had affected Mr. Gallo’s employment relationship. The jury unanimously found her liable on the sole claim submitted for its consideration: tortious interference with business relations.
A Verdict Recognizing Economic and Personal Harm
The jury’s award included compensation for both economic losses and emotional distress, as well as punitive damages.
For Mr. Gallo, the verdict represents accountability for conduct that disrupted a career to which he had devoted nearly two decades. For the trial team, it marks the successful presentation of a case connecting an anonymous communication to its author and demonstrating its lasting professional and personal consequences.