A federal jury heard closing arguments Tuesday in the case of Scott M. Matusick, who claims he was harassed and ultimately fired by superiors in the Erie County Water Authority because he fell in love with a black woman.

After a trial featuring testimony from 30 witnesses, jurors heard summaries of the case from Harvey P. Sanders, Matusick’s attorney, and Adam W. Perry, who represents the Water Authority.

The two lawyers disagreed entirely on what had been presented through testimony and trial documents.

Sanders described the Water Authority as an agency that has few African-American employees and where the “N-word” and other racist terms were frequently used by workers and even some supervisors.

“Scott Matusick was subjected to a hostile work environment” and then was wrongfully terminated from his job as an emergency dispatcher in 2006, Sanders told the jury.

“The use of the N-word, perhaps the most racially offensive word in the world . . . was pervasive,” Sanders said.

Sanders claimed that “overwhelming evidence” showed superiors had punished and fired Matusick because some were upset that he dated and married a black woman, Anita Starks Matusick, Sanders said.

Perry disagreed. He said Matusick was fired because he was a lazy, inattentive worker who sometimes slept or watched the Buffalo Bills games on television when he was supposed to be working.

An independent hearing officer who had no knowledge of who Matusick was dating recommended the firing, Perry said.

He accused Matusick and hisfather— Mitchell M. Matusick, an attorney—of launching a bogus lawsuit because they were angry over the firing.

“[Matusick] and his father wanted to cripple the authority,” Perry said.

Independent hearing officer Michael S. Lewandowski found Matusick guilty of misconduct and incompetence, and recommended his firing in April 2006, Perry said. He said the firing followed 60 days of suspension for other wrongdoing.

The trial, which began Aug. 19 before U. S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, heard testimony that Matusick and other workers used a “black box” to block a surveillance camera from observing them in the Water Authority’s dispatch office.

Sanders argued that other employees who used the “black box” and a worker who brought a cot to work so he could snooze on the job were not fired.

Opposing attorneys have clashed repeatedly throughout the hard-fought proceedings, and Arcara repeatedly sent jurors out of the courtroom so he could hash things out with the lawyers.

The jury was to resume deliberations today.

dherbeck@buffnews.comnull