Syracuse City Hall Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

The City of Syracuse fired attorney Trevor McDaniel nine days before he was set to argue on the city’s behalf in a yearslong tax exemption dispute with Syracuse University, a matter which SU eventually won. 

McDaniel is alleging the timing of his termination was no coincidence. 

The former city attorney in June filed a claim of wrongful termination against the city, which Central Current obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request. 

In the claim, McDaniel alleges Susan Katzoff, the city’s corporation counsel, wrongfully terminated his employment because he refused to provide preferential treatment to SU.

“My dismissal came after I informed Katzoff, the Corporation Counsel for the City of Syracuse, that we could not give preferential treatment to any particular property owner and after I reported her desire to provide preferential treatment to SU to my direct supervising attorney, Todd Long,” McDaniel wrote in the claim.

In a statement to Central Current from city spokesperson Sol Muñoz, the city rejected the notion that, in this manner or otherwise, it had treated SU differently than other property owners in the city.

“Mr. McDaniel’s termination was unrelated in any way to the pending matter involving the Schine Center being heard at the Appellate Division. In accordance with City policy, the City will not comment on the basis for his termination as an at-will employee,” Muñoz wrote.

Central Current contacted Katzoff directly for comment. Katzoff said she approved of Muñoz’s statement.

Central Current contacted SU for comment but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.

The university was appealing Onondaga Supreme Court Judge Gerald Neri’s decision in the matter, which found that portions of SU’s Schine Student Center — including the school’s bookstore and a Dunkin, Panda Express and CoreLife Eatery — were taxable entities, upholding the legality of the city’s 2022 move to revoke 9% of the student center’s tax-exempt status and charge SU an annual property tax of about $60,000.

Judges at the Rochester Fourth Appellate Division in June reversed the lower court’s decision, siding with the university. The city, which had terminated McDaniel’s employment nine days prior, did not send an attorney to present oral arguments, and instead rested on its previous arguments. The city appealed the decision, but a state appeals court in October upheld the ruling, according to syracuse.com | The Post Standard. 

The ruling in SU’s favor came just weeks before the city and university’s five-year “service agreement” expired. SU for the past 15 years has made voluntary payments to the city to offset municipal costs related to the non-profit institution. The most recent arrangement saw SU paying $11 million over five years as well as maintaining portions of Thornden Park. 

In the months preceding that agreement’s expiration, Mayor Sharon Owens and Syracuse University Chancellor Mike Haynie traded verbal blows regarding the university’s financial contributions to the city. 

Owens at a university speaking engagement argued SU could do more to pay its fair share. Haynie addressed the comments a week later at a town hall with SU’s Student Government Association, where he reminded students that the university’s service agreement is the only such arrangement in the city, and said he was proud of SU’s relationship with the city.

In September, City Auditor Alex Marion released a report which argued the university should increase its financial contributions to the city.

The city and university are now negotiating a new service agreement.

Under state law, an individual or party considering suing a municipal government must first submit a notice of claim, such as the document McDaniel filed.

McDaniel in his wrongful termination claim alleges that Katzoff called him into her office on March 30, said “I don’t want to put this in writing,” and intimated to him that she wanted to grant SU a tax exemption. McDaniel pushed back on his boss’ instruction, according to the claim, and said the standard to grant or deny an exemption was “arbitrary and capricious.” 

According to McDaniel’s claim, Katzoff told him “SU isn’t a normal property owner.”

“It was clear to me that Katzoff wanted me to advise my client to give preferential treatment to one specific property owner. Katzoff reached an agreement with SU that evening,” McDaniel wrote in the claim.

The following day, McDaniel told Katzoff to present her recommendation for an exemption to the city’s Board of Assessment Review, but she instructed him to present the recommendation instead, the claim alleges. 

After McDaniel presented to the Board of Assessment Review, that body rejected the recommendation. Shortly afterward, McDaniel lost his job.

“It is apparent to me your judgement does not serve the City or this office,” Katzoff wrote in the email terminating McDaniel’s employment, which is accessible for review here.

Katzoff’s own employment with the city has recently drawn scrutiny. On Monday, syracuse.com | The Post Standard reported how the city’s top lawyer works for the city four days a week, spending the other 20% of her work week as an attorney at Bousquet Holstein law firm. That arrangement has existed since Katzoff was hired by the city more than four years ago, and last year netted Katzoff $175,000 in outside income, according to the syracuse.com report.

The city did require Katzoff to cede the title of partner at Bousquet Holstein before accepting her government position, according to syracuse.com, but does not require Katzoff to disclose her clients.

Editor’s note: Central Current Board Chair Larry Bousquet, a founding member of the organization, is a founding partner with Bousquet Holstein PLLC. The firm is also a sponsor of Central Current.

Read the full text of McDaniel’s notice of claim for wrongful termination below:

I believe I have a viable claim for wrongful termination under N.Y. Civil Service § 75-b.

On March 30, 2026, Sue Katzoff called me on my office phone and said “I don’t want to put this in writing” then proceeded to say words to the effect that she wanted to grant Syracuse University an exemption. I informed her that the standard for granting or denying an exemption was “arbitrary and capricious.” Katzoff then said words to the effect of “SU isn’t a normal property owner.”

It was clear to me that Katzoff wanted me to advise my client to give preferential treatment to one specific property owner. Katzoff reached an agreement with SU that evening.

The next morning I emailed Katzoff and said “[you] should present this recommendation to the [Board of Assessment Review.” Instead, Katzoff directed me to present the recommendation because she “wasn’t available.” I presented Katzoff’s recommendation to the board, and the board rejected her recommendation.

At 8:51 a.m. on April 1, 2026, Katzoff sent me an email terminating my employment. In this email, Katzoff accused me of “undermining [her] authority by “challenging her legal analysis in front of a client” and by not presenting her recommendation “with one voice.” Katzoff followed this paragraph by stating “it is apparent to me your judgement does not serve the City or this office.” As such, please be advised that your employment is terminated, effective immediately.”

N.Y. Civil Service Law S.75-b prohibits dismissing or taking any adverse personnel action against a public employee because the employee discloses information which the employee reasonably believes to be true and which reasonably believes constitutes an improper governmental action.

An improper gov’t action is any action by a public employer which is undertaken in the performance of such duties, and which is in violation of any federal, state, or local law, rule, or regulation.

My dismissal came after I informed Katzoff, the Corporation Counsel for the City of Syracuse, that we could not give preferential treatment to any particular property owner and after I reported her desire to provide preferential treatment to SU to my direct supervising attorney, Todd Long.

It is therefore my understanding that I was terminated because I would not provide preferential treatment in direct conflict with established law. As such, I believe I was terminated in violation of N.Y. Civil Service Law § -75.b (a) (ii).

Since my termination, I have been receiving phone calls from journalists asking if I can be interviewed. I have not yet sat for an interview.

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Patrick McCarthy is a staff reporter at Central Current covering government and politics. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell and Newhouse Schools, McCarthy was born and raised in Syracuse and...