CITY OF NEWBURGH – A federal judged tossed out a lawsuit filed by a former City of Newburgh tax collector who alleged that she was fired after eight months because of racial and gender discrimination.

U.S. District Judge Judith McCarthy dismissed on Wednesday a suit filed in December 2016 by Helen Murphy, who had claimed that she faced discrimination from former Comptroller John Aber. Aber was eventually fired for stealing fees paid to use Newburgh’s Hudson River boat launch.

McCarthy sided with Newburgh’s argument – that Murphy was fired because of repeated mistakes, including crediting the wrong accounts for tax payments and leaving money in a locked cabinet instead of a safe.

“Significantly, Plaintiff admitted that even after seven months on the job, she still did not know how to properly use the City’s financial systems,” McCarthy wrote in her opinion.