Even their suspensions can’t save them as former RIOC Associate General Counsel Arthur Eliav sues the familiar suspects. Along with RIOC, he takes aim at President/CEO Shelton J. Haynes, Chief Counsel Gretchen Robinson and Administration AVP Tajuna L. Sharpe. They stand accused of racial discrimination, whistleblower retaliation and creating a hostile work environment.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
In the final analysis, it may well be that the “gutless amoebas” in the governor’s Executive Chamber in Albany bear the most blame. Gutlessness, we learned through this year’s downpour of shame at RIOC, runs downhill, riding the Hudson River currents.
While the governor’s office played a crucial role in displacing then-CEO Susan Rosenthal in favor of Haynes, they didn’t stay around long enough to help the new leadership find its way in a role in which it was unqualified and inexperienced.
The results gradually spilled out until they became a gusher, harming numerous people, depriving a community of any kind of political leadership.
“Plan A was always to milk this thing to the max,” one RIOC insider asserts, referring to Haynes and Robinson. “They calculated that the chamber and the board would not have the spinal fortitude to deal with them as ruthlessly as needed.”
So far, if that’s an accurate assessment, their calculation has been working. Both are on unlimited, expenses paid vacations while suspended for cause. Sharpe remains on staff, not accused of any wrongdoing outside the lawsuits.
Eliav Sues, Joining Rosenthal, Karline Jean, Erica Spencer-EL, Amy Smith and Jessica Cerone
Frustrated in federal court, Eliav filed a state lawsuit last week. In it, he seeks millions in damages on several grounds.
Of most immediate interest to Roosevelt Islanders are alleged unethical actions coordinated by Robinson and Haynes.
Referencing a FOIL request made by me, asking for RIOC staff salary details, Eliav recalls a policy developed by Robinson that delayed all such requests from me for a minimum of 45 days, regardless of need. Haynes, he claims, condoned it “in writing.” Neither liked the coverage they were getting in the news.
In addition, Eliav says, Robinson suggested various devious tactics that would evade a clear statutory requirement.
But this had been going on for a while. The legal department, headed by Robinson, was emboldened, another former manager said, by my not appealing grossly unresponsive FOIL requests and got worse.
There was a reason, though. The “appeals officer” was Robinson herself, the alleged leader of the violations. This would be like a banker going to a successful thief and asking him or her to, please, return the cash.
The hostile work environment…
Tied into the charges of racial discrimination, Eliav claims that a history of abuse started with his testifying in favor of another attorney who sued RIOC and won. That was accented, according to Eliav – a practicing Orthodox Jew – by instances in which his faith was criticized while at work and refusals to award earned raises and promotions.
In this lawsuit, Eliav recounts training at least four General Counsels, including Robinson, while being passed over for the promotions. None of the new General Counsels, he says, were as qualified as himself nor were they Orthodox Jews who gave honest testimony in a RIOC lawsuit.
That came to a head in the autumn of 2021 when, he alleges, Haynes and Robinson finagled a new job opening in the legal department where the requirements were designed to disqualify him from a promotion – after 17 years on the job.
Then, it all came crashing down…
Concurrent with the blocked promotion, Eliav’s insistence that Robinson and Haynes follow the law on my FOIL request blew up in his face. Haynes reacted angrily, Eliav says, when the released information showed him earning more than Governor Hochul.
Simultaneously, Eliav said he followed established procedures, protesting the “rigged” job posting. He cited the history of discrimination he suffered. Less than 48 hours later, he was fired via email with no cause given. RIOC, via Sharpe, offered a severance package.
Eliav sued as soon as legal time requirements allowed.
A feckless board, supposedly overseeing the state agency, observes the fruits of its own fecklessness.
The Five Amendments That Sold Out Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island did not lose control of its southern waterfront in a single deal. It happened in five quiet steps. Five amendments. Five missed chances to renegotiate.
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