St. Pat's Cathedral Trustees Fired Cemetery Whistleblower: Suit

NEW YORK CITY — Drainage pipes put under buried bodies. Debris dumped at a cemetery that could contaminate the Bronx River. Disregard for human remains.

A longtime employee of Trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral, which manages the famed cathedral's properties, contends he blew the whistle on the corrupt manager behind dangerous conditions in church-owned cemeteries, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan court.

In return for Louis Bertuzzi's honesty, in February, he was fired, the lawsuit contends.

"These actions violated not only the law, but also offend basic human decency," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit doesn't seek a specific amount, but seeks Bertuzzi's lost wages and benefits, as well as damages.

Representatives for the trustees, as well as Bertuzzi's attorney, Joseph Jeziorkowski, didn't return Patch's requests for comment.

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York, which is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, said they only just learned about the lawsuit. They said the archdiocese does not and cannot comment on pending litigation.

Bertuzzi, former director of cemetery operations for the church's cemetery properties, said his troubles began in 2021 when he challenged the ethics and legality of a managing director tasked with handling the trustees' day-to-day business, according to the complaint.

Problems reported included debris dumped at Westchester's Gates of Heaven Cemetery that could contaminate the Bronx River, a drainage pipe installed under bodies at Saint Mary Cemetery in violation of Rye Brook law, trash dumped on cemetery grounds, crumbling mausoleums and issues with legal records, according to the suit.

"This included suspected fraud, theft, and the gross mismanagement of Trustees’ property," the lawsuit states.

St. Patrick's trustees launched an investigation the same year that ended with an announcement the managing director would be "retiring," according to the lawsuit.

The managing director's supervisor — Monsignor Dennis P. Keane — was reassigned but remained on the board of trustees, documents state.

Bertuzzi then took several unaddressed concerns in cemeteries that could impact public safety to Keane's successor, Mary Ellen Gerrity, according to the suit.

But Bertuzzi's concerns were eventually met with direct hostility from Keane himself, the lawsuit states.

Keane accosted and threatened Bertuzzi at a social function in December 2022, the lawsuit contends. He asked why Bertuzzi would "ruin" the managing director's life and called the ousted employee a "good man" according to the lawsuit.

"When Plaintiff attempted to respond, Rev. Msgr. Keane cut him off and in no uncertain terms declared he would 'get [Plaintiff] fired,'" the lawsuit states, with bold emphasis.

In February, Bertuzzi was fired under the guise of a "restructuring" that eliminated his position, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit contends Bertuzzi had whistleblower protections that St. Patrick's trustees and other defendants violated.

It further contends St. Patrick's trustees never terminated other employees in the same manner, instead opting to reassign or transfer them.

The lawsuit states, "This was an obvious effort to mask their retaliatory animus."