The former head psychologist of the NYPD claims he was forced out of his job in retaliation for blowing the whistle on the department’s mental health practices — including allegedly being ordered to turn confidential therapy records of police officers into disciplinary files.
Dr. Matthew James Graziano resigned as the director of the department’s health and wellness section in April after he was accused of collecting overtime while moonlighting as a psychotherapist, and the city is now seeking reimbursement, sources told The Post.
But the certified psychologist said that the NYPD made up these accusations and launched numerous baseless complaints against him as revenge for advocating for quality mental health care for police officers, according to a lawsuit filed on June 23 in Manhattan Supreme Court.
He is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
“Once he started doing that, then they started retaliating against him because suddenly complaints started appearing against him,” his lawyer Nicole Brenecki told The Post.
Graziano, 45, who sees clients privately in New Jersey, joined the NYPD in 2022 as psychologist and was promoted to the executive role in 2024 — a position with a cushy starting salary of $180,000, according to the city’s official job site.
In his leadership position, he started sounding the alarm about ethical concerns — including allegedly being forced to breach confidentiality with police officers seeking help from the health and wellness section.
“There’s some things that you would confide in a psychologist that would normally be held confidential …but the NYPD was trying to turn it from confidential to disciplinary,” Brenecki said. “So the files that were confidential before would become part of a disciplinary file.”
Graziano also said he called out alleged gender discrimination within the department, which only resulted in him allegedly being targeted because he is a gay man.
“Once he started actually complaining about their practices, that’s when they started making little comments here and there and being a little nasty to him on that basis,” Brenecki said.
Graziano escalated his complaints to outside entities including the New York State Education Department’s Office of the Professions, the Internal Affair Bureau, the Equal Employment Opportunities office and the Office of the Inspector General.
In April, he was abruptly called into a meeting with his supervisors and told he was being investigated for working another job while cashing in on NYPD overtime.
It is unclear how much the city is demanding.
Brenecki said Graziano “never violated any rules” or logged hours he didn’t work.
The department was also aware that he ran his own practice when he was hired.
Graziano was told he was being demoted to an entry level job immediately. Instead of accepting the position, he quit on the spot, his lawyer explained.
“He wishes well to all the rank officers. He doesn’t think the way the NYPD is run is good for them. He feels that they’re being exploited. They’re being mistreated,” Brenecki said.
“How are they supposed to open up about the problems they experience on the job if that is part of a file that can later determine that they’re being terminated?”
The NYPD did not return a request for comment.
