GUILDERLAND — Long-time owner of Joe’s Service Station on Western Avenue was found liable in a sexual assault civil lawsuit after being acquitted of sexual harassment in town court last November.

Joe Calabro was ordered on June 20 to pay his former employee $35,000 in damages.

Calabro was accused last year of forcibly touching one of his female employees, and, after a two-day trial in town court, in a criminal trial, he was found innocent. However, the Albany County Supreme Court found Calabro liable for two counts of sexual assault, but threw out a third count of intentional infliction of emotional distress.
"He was found liable on two counts and they dismissed one count for failure of proof," said Calabro’s lawyer, Joseph Gardner. "We’re in the process of figuring out whether we’re going to appeal."

Calabro was originally arrested on a misdemeanor charge because of a complaint filed with the state police by one of his female employees in March of 2004.

According to the victim’s lawyer, John Hock, Calabro sexually harassed his client.

The civil suit was heard by Supreme Court Judge John Egan, said Hock, and he added that Guilderland Police Detective John Tashjian testified on behalf of Calabro during the lawsuit. Nevertheless, Hock said, Callabro was found liable for damages in the suit.

Tashjian did not return calls to The Enterprise this week.
Hock said during the civil trial an audio tape was played with Calabro’s voice repeatedly saying things of a "sexually explicit nature" to Calabro’s employee, and, at one point, during the tape, Calabro said that he "couldn’t stop himself."

Gardner maintained his client’s innocence during the criminal trial, saying the accusations were false. He told The Enterprise at the time, "The complainant has a civil lawsuit pending against him, so that may be part of the reason" for her accusations.

In letters received by The Enterprise in 2002 and 2004, Callabro was accused of charging higher towing fees than the other towing businesses in town. Guilderland now has a towing contract with the companies police call after accidents or arrests so they can only charge a maximum of $125 for towing, unless there are special circumstances.