'GAY' SMEAR $MACK

Jury Hits NYPD

A Manhattan jury has socked the NYPD for $1.5 million, ruling the
top transit cop refused to give a coveted job to a respected
sergeant because he assumed the man was gay - then wrecked
the careers of two supervisors who supported the sergeant.

The Nov. 22 verdict in Manhattan Supreme Court came after James
Hall, a two-star assistant chief and one of the NYPD's
highest-ranking members, rejected Sgt. Robert Sorrenti for a
position with the youth-services section.

The section runs the Police Athletic League, the anti-drug effort
DARE and other programs for kids.

Hall asked Sorrenti inappropriate questions about his marital
status, and how he spent his free time, then claimed to have learned
some "f-ed-up s-" about Sorrenti that ruled him out for working with
kids, the sergeant and supervisors claimed in separate suits.

Sorrenti applied in 2001 to run the DARE program on Staten Island
and was preferred by the youth-services commander, Capt. Lori Albunio.

Hall picked another candidate because he thought Sorrenti was
homosexual, the jury found.

Hall told the supervisors "something's not right about" Sorrenti,
adding that despite the sergeant's exemplary record, "I won't be
able to sleep at night knowing [he's] going to be around kids," the
suits stated.

The jury found Hall retaliated against Albunio, 42, stripping her of
her command without cause, and he harassed her and the unit's
operations lieutenant, Tom Connors, until they left the NYPD.
Albunio and Connors, both 18-year veterans with several
commendations, told The Post they believed Hall was blatantly biased
and took revenge on them for sticking up for Sorrenti.

"To encounter a man like this - it was incredible," said Connors,
42. "And to see how the Police Department protected him and promoted
him was devastating."

Albunio said, "Sorrenti was an excellent candidate - professional,
sincere, honest. He'd been with a precinct and highway patrol. He
was a veteran of Desert Storm."

"I told Hall he was making a mistake," she said.

Connors told Hall the same, he said. "I said [Sorrenti] is more than
qualified," Connors said.

Albunio was bumped down to the No. 2 job at Transit District 1.
Connors was transferred to a pencil-pushing position.

She retired in July 2005. He quit six months later.

"The Police Department's defense was to diminish my clients," said
their lawyer, Mary Dorman.

The supervisors and Sorrenti are due to get about $500,000 each.

The city is appealing.