“This is an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the violation of the Due Process Rights secured by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” Susan Rosenthal’s federal complaint begins. After fighting for justice in New York State courts for over three years, the former RIOC President/CEO takes her battle to the federal level.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Justice Denied
For more than three years following her abrupt dismissal from RIOC, Rosenthal sought basic fairness in New York State courts. She did not get it.
Instead, the state protected its own, allowing Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proactive racism to stand. No direct evidence exists implicating Rosenthal in the misconduct of which she was accused. No sworn statements from witnesses, and no physical evidence, no nothing.
Yet Cuomo’s operatives cruelly attacked her reputation in a public statement while never producing a shred of evidence. The cowards even refused Rosenthal any hearing or other opportunity to defend herself.
It’s not the American way, but it is, apparently, the New York State and RIOC way. Due process went out the window and did not come back for Rosenthal. Now, she’s fighting for restoring her reputation.
“Rosenthal is neither a racist nor a sexist, but that is beside the point for present purposes. For present purposes, what is important is that Defendants, acting under color of New York State law, publicly branded her as such in the New York Post without giving her a chance –in fact, by affirmatively denying her the opportunity– to defend herself and her reputation. As such, under well-established precedent, Defendants are liable for their deprivation of Rosenthal’s Constitutional Rights.”
Susan Rosenthal v RIOC, et al.
Due Process Denied
On a sunny late spring afternoon in June 2020, Rosenthal enjoyed a Friday off. It was Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the end of slavery in Texas. She’d successfully dealt with a flimsy employee-led attack on her credibility, but something else was in the air.
After state investigators found the complaint insufficient for taking any action, someone on Team Cuomo dug deeper, looking for something bigger. According to the state, they found it, a smoking gun, a recording they claim caught her making racist remarks.
That went 180 degrees from her history as a civil rights activist. She had, in fact, inaugurated an unofficial preferential hiring program at RIOC. Now, reality was being turned on its head, an acrobatic act beyond even Simone Biles. Biles never tried flipping a gym upside down.
That afternoon, although no emergency called for it, “Defendants Rabito, Gibson and Subtonic fired Rosenthal over the telephone and told her that she could not re-enter her office. Later the same day, The New York Post published what it had been told by the Governor’s Office about Rosenthal’s termination,” her lawsuit says.
The cruelest part? Rosenthal found out the alleged reasons for her dismissal in the same way everyone else did – by reading about it in The Post.
Not standard procedure….
Later that evening, RIOC board chair RuthAnne Visnauskas called the board together and, denying Rosenthal any form of due process, approved her immediate dismissal and appointed Shelton Haynes as her successor.
The meeting itself was illegal, failing at all levels to meet minimum state requirements. There was no public announcement. No records were kept and no proof of quorum.
Other than its being Juneteenth and with the public announcement already published, nothing was calling for such haste.
“I am dismayed that I have been denied access to the supposed evidence that was used to wrongfully terminate me and publicly smear my name. For instance, there supposedly was a tape recording of me that purportedly justified my termination but I was not allowed to hear it, and RIOC and the other defendants —despite the court’s order— have refused to produce it, or to disclose where the tape is and who did the recording.
“I believe that if such a tape exists it will exonerate me. That is why I have now sought justice from the federal court.”
Susan Rosenthal
“It is well-established that an at-will governmental employee such as Rosenthal can be terminated without explanation and will be entitled to neither a pre- nor post-termination hearing, unless a reason is in fact given for the termination that will impair the employee’s future employment prospects, in which case Due Process requires that the employee be given a hearing so as to have an opportunity to clear his or her name,” Rosenthal’s lawsuit asserts.
It continues: “Here, it cannot reasonably be denied that being publicly designated a racist and sexist in the New York Post was stigmatizing and detrimental to Rosenthal’s future employment prospects (in addition to being personally hurtful).”
Due process entitled her to a name-clearing hearing, but RIOC, led by Visnauskas and a bobblehead board, and New York State refused.
You can reach your own conclusions as to why. Below is a full copy of Rosenthal’s federal complaint.
Priced Out of the Air We Breathe
It used to be you could sit by the window and breathe in a little peace. Now, that costs extra—and someone’s cashing in.
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