Manhattan Federal jury awards fired bladder-shy guy 225G

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BY THOMAS ZAMBITO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, October 5th 2007, 4:00 AM


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A former sludge boat captain's bashful bladder has won him $225,000 from the city.

A Manhattan Federal Court jury found that Joseph Kinneary, 54, was wrongly fired because a condition called paruresis prevented him from peeing into a cup at a random drug test in 2001.

His inability to urinate on cue cost Kinneary his captain's license in 2003, and the Department of Environmental Protection canned him a year later. The case marked the first time a federal judge has recognized paruresis as a disability covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act and it is believed to be the first time that a jury has weighed in on the issue.

But city attorneys contend paruresis isn't a federally recognized disability and said they are considering an appeal of Friday's verdict.

Kinneary's lawyer Ambrose Wotorson said his client even tried drinking three quarts of water for the December 2001 test but still couldn't urinate.

"It's not that he refused," Wotorson said. "He couldn't, and he had doctors' notes saying so."

Some 17 million people suffer from the social anxiety disorder, which is also called pee-shy and shy-bladder, according to the Maryland-based International Paruresis Association.

City attorney Patricia Miller said, "The jury sided with a sympathetic plaintiff and gave him a second chance. However, the federal regulations state that a urine drug test is required. Safety is of utmost importance and, to protect the public, captains must pass random drug tests."

Kinneary did pass hair, blood and saliva drug tests, but the city said the federal license requires a urine test.

"All personnel that refuse the federally mandated random drug test must be immediately removed from safety-sensitive positions, such as captain of a vessel," said city attorney Cindy Switzer.

Kinneary, who spent nearly 30 years as a merchant marine, wants his $62,000-a-year city job back, as well as the $8,000 per year he made in overtime.

He's been working as a biology teacher at a girls Catholic high school near his Suffolk County home and teaches classes at SUNY Farmingdale.