Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk resigned as chairwoman of the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC), after a profanity-laced tired surfaced from a recorded meeting in February. During the hour-long session, Heredia Jarmoszuk snapped at staff questions and repeatedly spewed profanities, video obtained by The New York Post showed.
The virtual meeting was held to inform employees that Deputy Commissioner Dianna Pennetti, who had been on leave, wouldn’t be returning to the TLC – but things quickly unraveled. Heredia Jarmoszuk chided one employee who asked about working holidays and demanded others quit complaining. At one point, she yelled, “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.”
The now-ex-chair followed up with a prediction that the spectacle would “be on the New York Post in the morning,” and she wasn’t far off. Heredia Jarmoszuk, who was hand-picked last year by former Mayor Bill de Blasio to head the TLC, stepped down from the $243,000-per-year job, City Hall confirmed.
“We were made aware of this incident [and] conducted an internal review, and will be accepting her resignation,” said a spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams.
The cringe-worthy videos and audio emerged after a lawsuit was brought against her and the city, alleging she fostered a hostile work environment and routinely bullied employees. Former TLC Chief Joseph DeFrancis, 53, and former Deputy Chief Ajay Kapur, 52, claim they were fired by Heredia Jarmoszuk and replaced with younger women, as part of a pattern of discrimination against older men, according to their Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
DeFrancis, a 22-year NYPD veteran – called the firing “devastating,” claiming he was let go just six days after being approved for medical leave for health issues suffered working at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11 attacks. Kapur – also an NYPD veteran and the father of three – said he still hadn’t found another job, as of March.
After numerous requests for comment, the former TLC chair emailed a statement in March stating: “I pushed my team as hard as I pushed myself and I will be the first to admit that I should have found a more constructive way to express my expectations to them during the video call. I was wrong and I am sorry. This is certainly something that I will learn and grow from as I move forward.”
Source: New York Post
