Accused potty-mouthed priest and Catholic school principal denies launching into sexist, racist, homophobic rants alleged in suit

By Barbara Ross, Edgar Sandoval, Dareh Gregorian
New York Daily News
May 11, 2016

http://goo.gl/1yrrXz

The Rev. Michael Reilly, principal of St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School,was sued earlier this week by three staffers who charge his “crude and vulgar statements” have created a hostile work environment at the school.

St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School is a Catholic school located on Staten Island.

It’s all bulls--t!

An allegedly potty-mouthed priest accused of belittling his staffers at a Staten Island Catholic school with steady streams of foul insults is calling the claims “absurd.”

The Rev. Michael Reilly, principal of St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School,was sued earlier this week by three staffers who charge his “crude and vulgar statements” have created a hostile work environment at the school.

Reilly, the suit says, often launches into sexist, homophobic and racist rants, referring to women as “b----es” or “tw-ts,” gays as “f-gs,” and saying he wanted to kick a black teacher “back to the jungle.”

The priest emailed a letter to school parents Wednesday morning saying, “You likely have seen or heard about a lawsuit that has been brought against several members of the school administration, including myself ...”

“While we have yet to see the actual lawsuit itself, based on a description of it by reporters, I can assure you that the lawsuit has no merit, and the allegations it contains are false and absurd,” the letter says.

Reilly then goes on to trash one of the plaintiffs involved in the suit, guidance counselor Lawrence Boliak.

He cited an incident in the fall, in which Boliak “allegedly pulled down the shorts” of a recent graduate in his office, with two other students and another graduate present.

The priest said he was not sure if the incident was a fireable offense under the terms of the union contract, but told parents that as a result of “the alleged incident, we have imposed work rules on Mr. Boliak, including prohibiting him from meeting with students in his office.” The letter is signed, “Faithfully, F. Michael Reilly”.

Boliak, 67, says in the suit that he tugged the student’s shorts while trying to restrain him from fighting with someone else.

He charged the school wrongly branded him a pedophile because of the incident — while turning a deaf ear to the long-standing complaints about Reilly.

The priest is a regular at Nucci’s South, a restaurant and wine bar in Charleston.

“What I read today is totally unlike the person I know. I can't see it,” said owner Paul Montella. “In my six years of dealing with him in a daily basis, in business, as a customer, I don't see it. I consider him a friend. To me, he's great. Always, the ultimate gentleman."

"People say he's a drinker. We don't see that,” Montella said. “He's loved. He'd be eating in here and the kids from the school approach him. He lightens up. I don't see it be it true."