Harlem Assemblyman Eddie Gibbs fired employee battling amputation health crisis: suit
Harlem Assemblyman Eddie Gibbs (D-Manhattan) is being accused of illegally firing a former staffer as he battled a health crisis that ultimately resulted in his leg being amputated, according to a new lawsuit.
Keith Lilly alleges that Gibbs discriminated against him by firing him as he was laid up in the hospital for several weeks, according to his lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court this week.
“I was stunned when I was told by the assemblymember while lying in my hospital bed that he was firing me without any explanation,” Lilly wrote in a statement to The Post.
Lilly claims Gibbs canned him without explanation just a day before doctors told him he would lose his toes as he battled with Type II diabetes – a fight that would ultimately result in him losing his leg, according to the suit.
“In my darkest hour, I faced both personal and professional devastation,” he said in the statement.
Gibbs brought on Lilly as a senior adviser after winning his first term beginning in 2022.
The progressive pol is currently facing a heated primary from Xavier Santiago, a TV producer who has the backing of Bronx Rep. Adriano Espaillat (R-NY).
Espaillat is pushing the primary against Gibbs as well as another freshman pol, Assemblyman Landon Dais (D-Bronx), as he seeks to build a bench of Dominican and Latino lawmakers.
Former East Harlem Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, who’s known Lilly for 30 years, said he was shocked at Gibbs’ alleged treatment of his employee.
“It’s horrible. Keith Lilly had some medical issues. He doesn’t deserve this,” said Powell, who is backing Santiago.
“Keith Lilly is a good dude,” he continued.
Gibbs did not return a request for comment Friday.
