Paterson Settles Discrimination Suit for $300K

New York Gov. David Paterson won’t have his day in court after all. The state has settled a case brought by a former photographer for the state senate who accused Paterson, then the minority leader, of reverse discrimination, the Post reports. Joseph Maioriello originally sought $1.5 million in a case that was to go to court Monday. He will receive $300,000.

Maioriello, who filed the federal suit in 2005, said a Paterson aide told him he was being fired because several minority senators wanted him replaced with “a black photographer.” But in a sworn deposition, Paterson, who is legally blind, said he couldn’t see Maioriello, 56, well enough to determine his race—a comment Paterson’s spokesman later called “a quip, a joke.” (More David Paterson stories.)