TLC chairman Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk resigns after expletive-laden rant surfaces
Last month, the New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission's now-former chairman, Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk, allegedly went on an expletive-laced rant, warning one employee, "I will f–king come for you," and even predicting that the caught-on-camera incident would "be on the New York Post in the morning."
Heredia Jarmoszuk resigned on Wednesday, just hours after New York Post questioned the commission about the virtual meeting on February 15 to inform approximately 80 employees that Deputy Commissioner Dianna Pennetti, who had been on leave, would not be returning to the TLC.
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According to video and audio recordings obtained by New York Post, the hour-long meeting swiftly degenerated, with the then TLC commissioner apparently shouting at staff inquiries and repeatedly spitting profanities. In one of the videos, Heredia Jarmoszuk allegedly snarled, "Someone is messing around with the mute and don’t think I won’t figure it out who it is. I will f–king come for you."
"Work it out with your supervisor," she told another employee who inquired about working on holidays. "But don’t, like, b—h and complain about it because that’s not helpful to any of us."
"Don’t come to me with your nyeh-nyeh-nyehs, complaining about little things," she added in the Microsoft Teams meeting, "because I can complain about everything that’s happening in my life at work, all day every day."
"This is going to be on The New York Post in the morning, apparently," she added. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio selected Heredia Jarmoszuk to lead the TLC last year. She resigned from the $243,000 position on Wednesday, according to City Hall.
Mayor Eric Adams' spokesperson, Charles Lutvak said, "We were made aware of this incident last week. We have conducted an internal review and will be accepting her resignation."
The cringe-worthy videos and audio surfaced after a lawsuit was filed against her and the city in December, alleging that she produced a hostile work environment and habitually abused employees at the agency.
According to their Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit, former TLC Chief Joseph DeFrancis, 53, and former Deputy Chief Ajay Kapur, 52, say they were fired by Heredia Jarmoszuk and replaced with younger women as part of a pattern of discrimination against older males.
Their lawyer, Mina Malik, told The New York Post, "She is the commissioner and chair of a New York City agency. She is supposed to exhibit the utmost professionalism and respect, for not only herself but for her employees.I think that recording clearly shows that she doesn’t respect her employees. She doesn’t lead by example."
"She is the head of that law enforcement agency," said Derek Sells, another lawyer for the men. "She should not be talking about f–king someone up."
When a staffer asked about opening up communication with leadership during the February 15 meeting, Heredia Jarmoszuk boasted about being the boss. "But I’m leadership, honey," she snarled, "I'm the boss." "No, I'm not a part of [leadership], I am leadership."
She apparently also went after another employee who had introduced himself and said that she could recognise him from a "video." "No, I haven’t seen a goddamn video," she replied, "but I know who you are on paper."
Heredia Jarmoszuk sacked both DeFrancis and Kapur in April of last year, allegedly because they are older guys. DeFrancis was fired just six days after being granted medical leave for health difficulties he'd been experiencing since working at Ground Zero during the September 11 terrorist attacks. He alleges he was fired in reprisal for filing discrimination complaints against Heredia Jarmoszuk's actions.
According to their complaint filed in Manhattan's Supreme Court, "Evidently, once crowned as the TLC’s powerful Chair and Commissioner, defendant Heredia Jarmoszuk used her position of power to demean, humiliate and wrongfully fire older men on a daily basis, as well as hire and/or promote younger women regardless of experience or qualifications to replace the terminated men. In this fashion, defendant Heredia Jarmoszuk made her discriminatory animus clear against older male employees, created a hostile work environment for them and retaliated against employees who stood up to her tyranny."
DeFrancis, a 22-year veteran of the NYPD with a perfect work record, told New York Post that losing his job was painful. DeFrancis described his feelings as "unappreciated, depressed, sad, and upset." DeFrancis said, "Especially being a 9/11 first responder — I gave my whole life to serving the city. And this was the thanks I got. I felt thrown to the curb."
Kapur, who is also a veteran of the NYPD and the father of three children, said he has yet to find another employment. "I didn’t know what to do. I have family " Kapur explained. "I have two boys in college … it was very upsetting not only for myself but for my whole family "
"I went into work every day, did what was required, did my job," he continued. He claimed he was fired out of the blue, "for being who I am - being an older male."
