Public Employee Press

Court workers dump racist boss

After Local 1070 members filed official complaints about a supervisor's malicious rants and racist paraphernalia, the state Inspector General for the Unified Court System investigated and found evidence of racial bias. Deputy Chief Administrative" Judge Fern Fisher demoted the supervisor, a Senior Court Analyst, suspended her for 90 days and removed the Deputy County Clerk, second-in-command in the office.

Last August, when several members went to the union and state Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling, the IG began investigating complaints about the supervisor's misconduct and display of racist pictures and posters on the walls of the New York County Clerk's Record Room.

"The offensive pictures were in full view of the public. She had a history of verbal abuse toward her staff before this," said Steve Schwartz, Foreman of Laborers at 60 Centre St., and Local 1070's secretary-treasurer. " We had been addressing this problem with management for over a decade."Schwartz and a shop steward made complaints about the situation, but for years there was no response.

"It was torture to work there, absolute torture," said one worker. Constant verbal assaults and abuses of power led to high sick rates and very low morale.

Feeling threatened daily, a worker said, "I wanted to call the police. I did not understand why management let her get away with this for so long."

A few workers at 60 Centre St. took cell phone pictures of the supervisor's debased photos and racist posters involving monkeys and apes. She regularly used the N-word, the F-word, foul insults and violent threats to degrade staff and their children.

"Her unprofessional and abusive behavior was allowed and tolerated. I hold management responsible because the Chief Clerk, the Deputy County Clerk and the County Clerk all knew what was going on but chose to ignore it," Schwartz said. "We needed someone to stand up and say, "€˜Enough is enough,' and that's what our members and Judge Tingling did," said Schwartz.

"Heavy cloud lifted"

"It was so bad workers wanted to get an outside attorney," said Local President Cliff Koppelman. "But they had enough trust in us to let the local handle it with the IG."

The IG took its findings immediately to Judge Fisher, who transferred the supervisor elsewhere until the investigation was completed. "Although some County Clerk personnel work in non-civil service positions and felt vulnerable, other members from the Record Room came forward to testify before the IG about the situation," Koppelman said.

"Before, it was like working in a dungeon. Now the heavy cloud has been lifted," said one relieved worker.

— Diane S. Williams