Black executives of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) — its CEO and President Shelton Haynes, and General Counsel Gretchen Robinson — were fired last year amidst a racial discrimination lawsuit against the state.
Roosevelt Island is located in New York City’s East River near Manhattan and RIOC is a New York State public benefit corporation that runs the island. Haynes started working there in 2016, and was the second Black person to hold the president position. Robinson began working at RIOC in 2015, and was the first Black person in that position.
Their lawyer, Milton Williams, a partner at Walden Macht & Haran LLP, filed the discrimination lawsuit executives in 2023 with the U.S. Southern District of New York against RIOC and Governor Kathy Hochul’s Executive Chamber. After nearly a year on paid administrative leave, Haynes and Robinson were fired abruptly due to a “loss of confidence” in November 2024.
Litigation is still ongoing.
“This is nothing short of a travesty,” said Williams in a statement. “Shelton Haynes and Gretchen Robinson have dedicated their careers to public service and served the Roosevelt Island community with integrity and excellence. Instead of addressing their legitimate concerns about systemic issues, they have again and again been met with retaliation and unfounded accusations. The actions taken against them, under the guise of a ‘loss of confidence,’ reflect a disturbing misuse of power that undermines the principles of fairness and justice.”
The pair alleged that RIOC had a hostile work environment, was racially discriminatory, and launched numerous “baseless” investigations into their conduct since they assumed their positions in 2020. The costly state investigations, which ran from March 2021 to April 2023, didn’t corroborate any allegations against Haynes and Robinson or find any wrongdoing on their parts.
They said the state didn’t allow them to defend themselves or hire a media company to handle negative press during that time, and that “hostile” board members were appointed without following typical procedure or approval from Haynes. There was also a slew of complaints from former employees, at least one of which was dismissed, who had been let go because of a restructuring plan. Those employees filed their lawsuit in 2023.
By early 2024, Haynes and Robinson were suspended and placed on paid administrative leave amid yet another investigation into allegations against them, conducted by Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP at the behest of the state. In the interim, RIOC operations were overseen by Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Vice President Dhruvika Patel Amin and Assistant Vice President & Deputy General Counsel Gerrald Ellis, who ended up resigning in 2024.
In a governance committee meeting on Sept. 6, 2024, the subject of terminating Haynes “for cause” and Robinson “just because it didn’t work out” was broached publicly. Several members quickly said the subject should be discussed privately in executive session. Committee Chair Lydia Tang and Board Member Ben Fhala said it was not being addressed and called for the board to fully vote on the firings. Fhala insisted, in the meeting, that the legal fees, investigations, and leave costs couldn’t be sustained.
Fhala again broached the subject of firing Haynes and Robinson against protocol and had a heated exchange with board members at a meeting on Sept. 19, 2024. A few months later, in a special meeting of the RIOC Board of Directors on Nov. 19, 2024, the board moved to an executive session to discuss litigation and other matters involved in the removal of a person. No votes were taken. However, Fhala resigned shortly after that session.
Haynes and Robinson were officially dismissed on Nov. 22, 2024. They maintained that they were fired as a retaliation since no findings from the last investigation were released.
“It meant something to do the job and do the job well,” said Haynes. “[T]hrough my entire tenure as president, eight years total there [and] I did four years as chief operating officer, and not a single issue there. I became president and the whole world fell out. We were being attacked and investigated, and all this craziness, and still achieving record-breaking things that transformed the entire island.”
Robinson said she’s actively pursuing new opportunities, but has had difficulty. “It’s a very sobering situation to be here,” she said. “This is the first time I’ve ever been fired in my life. I’ve worked in government for 20-plus years. The irony is that a lot of people choose the government for job security and to do good work, and I feel very wronged in what has happened and how I’ve been treated. To be terminated without cause for doing my job is very, very uncomfortable. I have no insurance, no income coming in. I’m doing my best to make sure I don’t lose everything.”
Currently, Mary Cunneen is RIOC’s chief operating officer (COO), Aida Morales is chief of staff, and Amin is still CFO and vice president.
When the Amsterdam News asked Hochul’s office about the RIOC situation, they said they “couldn’t comment on pending litigation.”
The RIOC press office didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.
Stop chatgpting your assignments. Some of this makes no sense.
I just read both articles on this issue. Very thorough and disturbing piece! The hyperlinks with the lawsuits, unprofessional board meetings, and other attachments paint a vivid picture. The journalists David Stone from Roosevelt Island seems like an obsessed racist lunatic.
Talk about a MAGA supporter in disguise or a Fox news wannabe. RI was the place that insane people were sent and I guess these are their descendants. People resigning left and right. The board members especially Ben Fhala causing a ruckus and stirring the pot.
What a complete mess! I hope that the black executives win big!
We are living in dangerous times when people can get fired after they file a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit. Then it says that they were investigated several times and there were no findings (bizarre). How much tax payer money was spent on all of this? I sent this to an attorney friend, who agreed and pointed out it was egregious and the state used big deal law firms on these investigations. New York’s political landscape is chaotic enough but worse when you see people proven innocent and still being treated this way. After I read the lawsuit, I looked up the blogger David Stone (Roosevelt Island Daily). This man is absolutely is appalling and despicable. A writer with loads of venom for President Haynes and has not one objective article. I am not big on name calling but it is clear that he is not fond of black people. I would get an order of protection for someone like that! I hope that Haynes and Robinson prevail. This is truly intriguing and it makes you want to research more on this. Still perplexed at how you can fire someone suing you without a reason.
David Stone is a known racist on Roosevelt Island. It is good to see him finally get outed in this way! He would always target and write lies about black people on his blogs.
The way he stalked and obsessed over President Haynes was scary. He even created a website dedicated to President Haynes full of fake news, sensationalism and gaslit articles. Those of us that are in the know understand the positive impact that Haynes and Robinson left on Roosevelt Island. We still love and support them!
There are going to be a-lot angry racist when they win the lawsuit.
David Stone was told to his face before moving to Portugal by a group of African American residents that we feel he is a racist SOB. He would literally harass the former CEO Shelton Haynes and other blacks almost daily. Stone was sued before for defamation by the WIRE publication and evicted too!!! He is rude and had always been obnoxious to several black residents, employees and whoever!! We are so glad that he has left the Island!!! Good riddance to this sick and soulless man.
We loved and miss CEO Haynes! He cared about Roosevelt Island and us residents! Those people targeted him and were relentless with attacking him! Whoever the new CEO is buckle up!!! RIOC has a bad history with how they deal with CEOs and executives!