He misplaced his “dream” job!
A Central Park upkeep employee who bought canned for snoozing on the job insists his cat naps had been brought on by a legit sleep apnea dysfunction, in response to a brand new lawsuit.
Gregory Holder, 60, is suing the Central Park Conservancy for damages — alleging he was axed from a longtime place he beloved final 12 months because of “daytime drowsiness” from the acknowledged incapacity.
“[Holder] was surprised to be terminated after eight years of exemplary service and 4 promotions,” in response to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court docket.
“The termination letter claimed that [he] had taken breaks and slept at work over the previous 12 months, giving this disability-related cause essentially the most weight and a spotlight.”
However Holder insists his bosses are those asleep on the wheel— as a result of they by no means met with him to debate the situation after he gave them a physician’s notice about it.
He stated he handed over the notice in regards to the incapacity— wherein respiration repeatedly stops throughout sleep, typically inflicting persistent fatigue — six months earlier than he was fired for “sleeping on the job,” in response to the lawsuit.
Regardless of higher-ups’ claims that he turned park cleansing right into a snoozefest, Holder instructed The Put up he’s no Rip Van Winkle.
“If I’m sitting down for too lengthy,” he stated, “I’ll shut my eyes for a number of seconds,” including that it wasn’t something near napping on the job.
“[It’s] nothing actual loopy,” he stated of the situation.
His lawyer, Chiamaka Echebiri, stated that after the Conservancy’s human assets division bought Holder’s physician’s notice in early 2025, they need to have met with him to work out affordable lodging — like shifting his hours barely to later within the day when his sleep apnea wasn’t affecting him.
“When the employer is aware of that this particular person is disabled, then the ball is of their courtroom,” stated Echebiri. “They need to establish lodging that may allow that worker to proceed performing their work regardless of their incapacity.”
However that assembly by no means got here.
As a substitute, Holder was fired in August 2025 with out warning, the lawsuit states.
“I used to be shocked,” Holder, a lifelong New Yorker with 5 grandkids, stated. “I beloved my job. I beloved working within the park. It was like a second residence.
“I truthfully had intentions of being with Central Park for no less than 12 extra years.”
The Central Park Conservancy, a personal non-profit that maintains the inexperienced area, declined to remark.
Holder stated he first began doing park upkeep years in the past by means of The Doe Fund at Brooklyn Bridge Park.
He beloved the work, and turned it right into a profession, climbing the ladder in his eight years in Central Park from upkeep employee to supervisor, the place he made roughly $110,000 a 12 months and managed a group of 25 employees.
Holder says he adored studying in regards to the park and preserving it clear for everybody to take pleasure in.
“The way in which I used to be taking a look at it,” Holder stated, “I used to be doing God’s work.”
However he started getting sleepy throughout the day in late 2024, in response to his lawsuit, and a director at work acknowledged the signs of sleep apnea — as a result of he as soon as had it himself.
Holder’s physician recognized him with sleep apnea in January 2025, noting that his situation leads to “daytime drowsiness,” in response to the letter filed in courtroom.
He handed within the notice to his supervisor, and the whole lot appeared tremendous — till he acquired a letter six months later telling him he was being instantly fired for “sleeping on the job.”
The missive claimed Holder had missed a gathering and brought too lengthy of a break two days earlier, and cited “a sequence of patterns,” including that he had been given quite a few warnings and conferences about his conduct, in response to the swimsuit.
Holder stated he was “shocked,” and that no person had raised any points with him within the months after he notified the Conservancy of his sleep apnea.
“It simply occurred so abruptly,” he stated. “I didn’t assume that was the process… I didn’t even get a possibility to elucidate.”
Holder’s lawsuit seeks misplaced wages, in addition to damages for emotional misery, humiliation and damage to skilled repute.
Since his prognosis, Holder has misplaced 80 kilos and says his respiration is “a lot better.”
“The humorous factor is, I really feel nice. I really feel energized, however I’m not working,” he stated. “I must get again to work.”
— Extra reporting by Kyle Schnitzer
