Fired LI Varsity Basketball Coach Sues; Says It Was Due To Weight

COMMACK, NY — Former Commack girls' varsity basketball coach Denis Conroy is suing Commack School District, alleging he was unfairly fired due to being overweight. The civil suit was filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act and seeks monetary compensation of at least $150,000.

Conroy — who is represented by Saul Zabell of Long Island law firm Zabell & Collotta — claims in the filing that his "major life activities are impaired because of his weight. His mobility, including but not limited to walking, is substantially impaired. His impairment prevented him from traveling with his team on the bus to road games."

Even with these limitations, Conroy claims to have received an evaluation from the district as an "effective" coach in 2019, and pointed to successes during his coaching career like leading teams to "three out of the five Suffolk County Class AA Championships at the close of the 2018-2019 school year," and being named Newsday's Long Island Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2015.

Conroy has worked as a social studies teacher in Commack schools since 1994, and was appointed girls' basketball coach in 2005.

The lawsuit names Commack's Athletic Director Patrick Friel and former Commack High School Principal Leslie Boritz as defendants.

Conroy alleges that, before his firing, he hadn't received any complaints about his coaching. But the school district reported they received several phone calls with concerns about his coaching performance.

The suit claims that the school's reports were "contextualized, false...and meant to discriminate against (Conroy) on account of his perceived and/or actual disability status."

In an interview with Patch, Conroy's attorney said that school officials never disclosed the nature of the phone call complaints and that "we have reason to believe" they never happened.

Commack School District, as well as its lawyers from Lamb & Barnosky, declined to comment on active litigation.

Zabell said that his client wants to return to coaching. In addition to the monetary damages, the suit asks that he be restored to the position.

"Absolutely, he wants to go back," Zabell said.