A lawsuit accuses the former Republican mayor of Amityville, Long Island, who later headed his own insurance firm, of coercing his new employees into drug use and making racist statements following his 16-year tenure in public office.
Peter Imbert is the head of RCI Industries, where his alleged misconduct became the subject of legal trouble after a maintenance worker filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights.
Ralph Guarino claimed Imbert, who served as the mayor of Amityville from 1997 to 2013, forced him to eat THC edibles, tend to his marijuana plants and clean up after his guinea pigs and dogs.
Guarino, 39, described being “summoned” to Imbert’s home on a daily basis to “play pool and get stoned,” watch underage girls in bikinis by the pool, and was even directed to shoot geese on the property.
Guarino further described Imbert as a provocateur who instructed him to buy anti-freeze and cat food so that Imbert could “feed it to the stray cats.”
Guarino’s complaint states that Imbert, a registered Republican, maintained a hidden room containing “illegal weaponry,” such as AK-47s and AR-15s. Additionally, it alleges that the former mayor expressed racist views, reportedly telling Guarino, “Whites should stay with whites, and Blacks should stay with Blacks.”
Guarino, who continues to work at the company, claims that no other employee of Imbert’s was subjected to the same alleged misconduct and humiliation. He also asserted that whenever he questioned Imbert’s demands, his boss would insult him, calling him a “chicken sh-t” and a “conniver.”
“For the last 10 years, I’ve constantly been on edge around him, just ready for him to snap,” Guarino said, according to the New York Post. “For two years, every day, I … did anything he wanted. I fear the guy. He once told me he has ‘No one to answer to but God.’”
Guarino’s mother, Irene, who also works at RCI as the vice president, claimed that she filed a complaint against Imbert as well, citing retaliation after she raised concerns about the alleged mistreatment of her son.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
There was no indication that Imbert exhibited the same alleged conduct while serving as mayor.
Guarino claimed that Imbert often spoke about his troubled sex life with his wife, Diane, and recalled how his father disapproved of her for not “playing along” when he grabbed her rear.
Guarino claimed that he was responsible for maintaining Imbert’s home and pool house, ensuring they were stocked with essentials such as vape pens, beer, bottled water, shampoo, and toilet tissue. Additionally, he was tasked with shoveling snow and taking Imbert’s cars in for service, which had nothing to do with his actual job.
“This was an extremely hostile work environment, and I am proud of my clients for having the courage and bravery to prosecute these discrimination and retaliation claims,” said the Guarinos’ lawyer, David H. Rosenberg.
