POLITICS
Alphonso David Fired by Human Rights Campaign
Board members vote to remove president amid revelations in AG’s report on Cuomo
BY MATT TRACY
Human Rights Campaign
(HRC) president
Alphonso David was
fi red on September 6
following an investigation into his
role in New York Attorney General
Letitia James’ report on former
Governor Andrew Cuomo.
According to James’ report, David
worked with the former governor’s
team in response to multiple
accusations of sexual harassment
against the former governor. David,
who previously served as Cuomo’s
top counsel, allegedly provided the
former governor’s team with an
accuser’s personnel fi le, engaged
in discussions to secretly record
a different accuser, and “actively
consulted” with Cuomo following
the allegations, the attorney general’s
report stated.
Following the release of that report
— which led to Cuomo’s resignation
— HRC hired Sidley Austin
LLP to spearhead the probe against
David and “shed light on the events
that unfolded and guide the boards
on the necessary next steps.”
The board chairs of HRC and
its foundation announced David’s
fi ring late in the evening on Labor
Day, concluding a dramatic weekend
during which David and HRC’s
board co-chairs feuded in a series
of back-and-forth statements.
“Last month, the Human Rights
Campaign and the Human Rights
Campaign Foundation boards of
directors announced a board-led
investigation into Alphonso David’s
actions related to the New York Attorney
General’s report regarding
the allegations of sexual harassment
by former Governor Andrew
Cuomo,” HRC board co-chairs Jodie
Patterson and Morgan Cox said in
a written statement. “This investigation
was conducted through the
executive committees of the boards,
constituted of their independent directors,
with the assistance of Sidley
Austin. Following the completion
of that investigation, the HRC and
HRC Foundation boards of directors
have voted to terminate Mr. David
for cause, effective immediately, for
Alphonso David has been terminated as president of the Human Rights Campaign.
violations of his contract with the
Human Rights Campaign.”
The announcement continued,
“As outlined in the New York Attorney
General report, Mr. David engaged
in a number of activities in
December 2020, while HRC president,
to assist Governor Cuomo’s
team in responding to allegations
by Ms. Boylan of sexual harassment.
This conduct in assisting
Governor Cuomo’s team, while
president of HRC, was in violation
of HRC’s Confl ict of Interest policy
and the mission of HRC.”
Cox and Patterson said David’s
conduct led to — or is expected
to lead to — “material damage” to
the organization’s “interests, reputation,
and prospects,” and that
David’s reputation was damaged
signifi cantly enough to “impair his
ability to effectively serve as the
public face and voice” of HRC and
its foundation.
“This damage is evidenced by the
intense media surrounding this
conduct as well as the hundreds
of calls, emails and other negative
communications HRC has received
from staff, members of the Board
of Governors, volunteers, program
partners, general members, supporters,
corporate partners, political
fi gures, and more expressing
serious concern with Mr. David’s
conduct and its inconsistency with
the values and mission of HRC,”
DONNA ACETO
Cox and Patterson said.
The weekend of developments
leading up to the termination featured
a series of defi ant public
statements issued by David — and
some out LGBTQ leaders published
social media posts defending him,
including former New York City
Council Speaker Christine Quinn
and American Federation of Teachers
president Randi Weingarten.
David said he was asked to resign,
but refused to do so, and he
ripped what he described as a lack
of transparency in the investigation.
He said the co-chairs of HRC’s
board told him that the results
of the probe would not be shared
with him and that he was asked to
resign because co-chairs “feel the
incident has been a distraction” for
the organization.
He added that “the review period
has been completed, and there is
no indication of wrongdoing on my
part,” which prompted HRC to fi re
back in an email to the organization’s
staff.
The email, obtained by the Washington
Blade, said the co-chairs
were “very surprised and disappointed
by the inaccuracies in his
portrayal of events.” The co-chairs
said David was offered an opportunity
to “discuss in good faith a
separation from HRC, and his lawyers
began that discussion on his
behalf. Mr. David’s email yesterday
is unfortunate given his mischaracterizations,
including the assertion
that there was ‘no indication
of wrongdoing’ on his part.”
In a subsequent statement, David
denied that his lawyers were
involved in discussions about separating
from HRC, saying that assertion
was “simply not true.”
“They contacted my lawyers,
and neither my lawyers nor I ever
suggested at any point that I would
even consider stepping down,” he
said. “Our simple and repeated demand
was that they share the Sidley
Austin report.”
Following the termination announcement
late on Labor Day,
David tweeted out a public statement
via Twitter accusing the
board co-chairs of hiding “in darkness”
— and he vowed to put up a
legal fi ght.
“They unjustly provided notice of
termination to me in order to end
my fi ght for the integrity of the review
process and for what is right,”
David wrote. “I asked for the report,
they refused. They lied about
producing the report. Now that
they are being called to task, they
tried to shut me up. As a Black, gay
man who has spent his whole life
fi ghting for civil and human rights,
they cannot shut me up. Expect a
legal challenge.”
Joni Madison, HRC’s chief operating
offi cer, is taking over as interim
president of the organization while
the boards search for a new leader.
Patterson and Cox will work closely
with Madison “to provide assistance
and support, including with outward
facing engagement with our
members, volunteers, donors and
supporters and other key stakeholders,”
HRC said in a written statement.
David, HRC’s fi rst Black leader,
took over as president in June of
2019 following a four-year stint as
Cuomo’s top counsel. Prior to that,
he worked for Cuomo dating back
to his time as attorney general after
working as a staff attorney at
Lambda Legal and then as deputy
commissioner and special counsel
to the New York State Division of
Human Rights.
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