BERNE — Berne Highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger has suspended one of his employees without pay one day after that employee spoke out against him to The Enterprise in a private conversation. The employee, Shawn Duncan, claims that it is an act of retaliation.

On July 22, Duncan, who has worked for the town for five years, spoke with The Enterprise over the phone about various concerns he had about Bashwinger’s leadership of the highway department, including one very serious allegation that The Enterprise has not yet been able to verify. 

Duncan also alleged that Bashwinger had the highway department workers pose for a photo that he then posted on Facebook, where Bashwinger claimed — falsely, Duncan said — that he had the endorsements of all the employees as he seeks re-election this November. 

Duncan said that Bashwinger referenced these allegations and The Enterprise’s attempts to reach the involved parties as he was suspending Duncan on July 23, accompanied by Supervisor Dennis Palow, town board member Joe Giebelhaus, and an Albany County Sheriff’s Deputy.

Palow and Giebelhaus could not be reached by The Enterprise on July 23. Bashwinger hung up on The Enterprise when reached, saying, “I’m not interested in talking to you.”

Subsequent emails from The Enterprise asking about Duncan’s allegations were not answered.

The suspension

Duncan told The Enterprise that he was told the suspension was related to two accusations against him: that he had sexually harassed women at the transfer station by asking for their phone numbers, and that he had threatened other workers.

On the harassment allegation, Duncan denied the harassment allegation, telling The Enterprise, “I tried to explain … if I had asked for any broads’ numbers, they simply gave it to me,” and that he had never harassed anyone.

Duncan denied the harassment allegation, telling The Enterprise that there was “no proof” of any threat. 

Duncan claimed in a post on Bashwinger’s Facebook page that the suspension is “retaliation” because “I spoke my mind” and “apparently offended Randy.” 

Shawn Duncan is the brother of Scott Duncan, chief of the East Berne Volunteer Fire Company, who is running for town board on both the Democratic and Republican lines. Bashwinger is running for re-election for highway superintendent on the Republican line. And Giebelhaus is running for Berne supervisor on both the Democratic and Republican lines.

Town government had been functionless for months earlier this year when three of five board members on the all-Republican-backed board had simultaneously resigned, alleging financial mismanagement and hostility on the part of Palow, who is not seeking re-election.

Palow has denied all of these allegations.

Republicans in Berne have made accusations against political adversaries in the past, specifically against former Democratic town board members.

In 2020, The Enterprise found that, while Palow was deputy supervisor under Republican Supervisor Sean Lyons and Bashwinger was chairman of the town’s Republican Party, the town spent over $15,000 on investigations into alleged misconduct by their Democratic colleagues on the board, nearly all of which were found to have no merit.

Shawn Duncan told The Enterprise on July 23 that he was waiting to speak with his lawyer to determine his next steps.

Meanwhile, former town board member Joel Willsey, a Democrat, has filed a complaint with New York State against Bashwinger about the campaign photo, which he says may violate state campaign rules. While he declined to share the exact complaint with The Enterprise, citing confidentiality, he alleged in a written statement that Mr. Bashwinger “continues to abuse his position and the public trust.”

He claimed that Bashwinger “[L]ined up Berne Highway Department employees on their work site for a series of photos that he then used for his reelection Facebook page.”

The Division of Election Law Enforcement does not, by policy, comment on complaints or investigations; the division did not respond to an Enterprise request for more general information about the situation, such as what sections of state law might be relevant in a similar case.