City Settles Whistleblower Suit For $387K

The city paid a former building inspector $387,000 to drop a lawsuit over what his attorney called ​“the unsafe, unfair and unethical actions” by his bosses.

John Raffone, the former inspector, took a six-figure payout to end his suit about alleged breaks given to business interests tied to Andy Rizzo, the former department head.

That’s detailed in an 11-page agreement released to the Independent this month in response to a public-records request under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act. The deal was first reported by WTNH-News 8.

Raffone agreed to withdraw a federal lawsuit in which he claimed that the city had retaliated against him for pointing out wrongdoing, denied him sick leave and refused to accommodate his medical conditions.

In exchange, the city agreed to send Raffone 33 monthly checks of $5,268 in severance pay until February 2022, three annual checks of $45,439 in compensation for non-economic damages until January 2024, and a lump sum of $84,215 to his attorneys.

In the agreement, City Hall says it ​“in no way admits that it treated [Raffone] unlawfully or unfairly in any way.” New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, Disability Services Director Michelle Duprey, Human Resources Manager Stephen Librandi, and Building and Enforcement Director Jim Turcio are also prohibited from bad-mouthing Raffone.

Laurence Grotheer, a spokesperson for the mayor, said it’s unfair that city employees can’t explain their actions, because losing in court would cost too much in legal fees.

“A $100 verdict in favor of the claimant could result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees assessed after trial,” Grotheer said in a statement. ​“Too frequently in that context the allegations against responsible, effective and long-employed City department personnel, which have never been proven [and] which the wronged employees have never been given the opportunity to refute, linger after the case has been withdrawn.”

“Protecting People”

In the complaint that initiated his lawsuit, Raffone said that in joining the staff of the building department in 2007, he was taking his ​“dream job,” where he wanted to spend his days ​“protecting people” in structures they ​“may call home.”

Almost as soon as he was hired, he said, he learned his department operated by different rules than what the housing code proscribed. His supervisors told him to take a hands-off approach to unsafe buildings. He said he once saw his boss, Andrew Rizzo, the city’s former building official under the DeStefano Administration, tell inspectors to stay away from job sites.

That made Raffone think the office’s actions were ​“based on improper influence and favoritism and not in the best interest of the public,” his lawyer, Jacques Parenteau, wrote in the complaint.

Raffone alleged in the lawsuit that Rizzo — who after leaving city government had started a consulting company that may have violated ethics rules — continued to exert influence over the department.

Rizzo declined to comment, saying in an email that he was unfamiliar with the details of the settlement.

In May 2014, Raffone was asked to inspect One Long Wharf Drive, the site of medical offices and state agencies. Right away, he said he noticed what Attorney Parenteau called ​“many discrepancies” between what Continental Contracting Inc., a Hamden company whose manager was friends with Rizzo, had been permitted to do and what they had actually done.

Raffone also noticed that another city staffer hadn’t cashed the check for Continental’s electrical permit. When he asked her why she was holding it, the staffer said Rizzo had asked her to.

(Continental Contracting’s phone line has been disconnected.)

The same month, Raffone was asked to inspect 555 Winchester Ave., a three-story apartment building. He found out that the landlord — who said he’d worked with Rizzo before permits were issued — had also been issued a certificate of occupancy, even though the check had bounced.

That’s when he told his new boss, Daniel O’Neill, about his ​“concerns of unethical or illegal behavior.” He sent O’Neill an email saying he didn’t want to be assigned to any more work sites where Rizzo was involved ​“until we can clear up some questions.”

According to the complaint, someone apparently tipped Rizzo off about the email, and he stormed into the office, threatening Raffone’s job.

Around the same time, Raffone said he noticed that records from Rizzo’s tenure as building official were being carted out of the building and destroyed — for ​“no apparent reason,” as Attorney Parenteau put it. He claims Rizzo was even allowed to remove records himself after-hours.

After Raffone called him about it, O’Neill wrote a memo saying that it would not happen again. ​“With this correspondence, I consider the matter closed and will not be discussing it again,” O’Neill wrote, according to the suit.

Raffone said records continued leaving the Orange Street offices for another year afterwards.

Extra Leeway?

After a staff shakeup, Jim Turcio became building official and O’Neill became the deputy. Turcio emailed that Raffone was being pulled off all inspections ​“to catch up on your paper and computer work.”

In January 2016, when he returned to the office after the holidays, Raffone said he found Turcio waiting outside for him with an order to vacate the premises and requests for him to see a doctor.

According to the complaint, Georgeann Witte, a clinical psychologist who serves as the city’s designated therapist for employees, met with Raffone and said he could return to work the next month, but Turcio wouldn’t let him back.

The union filed a grievance. Turcio wrote back that Raffone had missed a month’s work ​“without prior notice or consultation” that required further investigation. Parenteau, in the complaint, called that untrue.

Feeling ​“Uneasy”

When he was finally let back in the office, Raffone said, his desktop computer and keycard access had been taken away. He said he was put at the front desk. He said he was given busy work, and he was told that he needed to be back in the office by 3 p.m. every day because of budget cuts. He said his coworkers shunned him, with one even yelling at him in the lobby.

Raffone told human resources that he needed to take a two-month leave of absence for what the city’s designated therapist had diagnosed as generalized anxiety disorder and recurrent, moderate major depressive disorder.

In April 2016, Raffone submitted a transfer request for a similar job in any department. He did an interview with the Livable City Initiative for an open position as a housing code inspector, but he never heard back.

A month later, he submitted another transfer request, this time saying it wasn’t just an ask but a necessity under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The city said it could not ​“summarily transfer” him to an open position because of ​“strict civil service and union rules”; instead, it said he’d be allowed to take 15-minute breaks whenever his anxiety worsened.

In July 2016, Raffone said he was allowed to return to work again, but once more, he was assigned to menial tasks like closing out old roofing and siding permits and stuck in a desk in the reception area — this time, without a chair.

“As far as your chair, the department does not have any funds to buy furniture,” Turcio wrote in an August email to Raffone, according to the complaint.

In September 2016, Raffone went to the hospital. Two days of tests confirmed, as he put it in an email to his union, ​“that my high blood pressure is causing aneurysm in my head and that stress and anxiety are the primary cause.”

In October 2016, Raffone and Turcio got into a row in the parking lot. According to the complaint, Raffone said, ​“I hope for a normal ​‘Good morning,’” while Turcio said, ​‘You’re done,’ and ​‘You never said sorry to Dan O’Neill.’”

At month’s end, Turcio told Raffone that he would be transferred to another department, and that he should take a week of paid administrative leave — a request that eventually stretched through more than a year.

In January 2017, the city proposed a mayoral transfer for him as an assistant building inspector for the Livable City Initiative. The complaint says it came with one condition: Raffone would have to retire after 10 months, in November 2017.

Raffone turned it down.

“Any deal was predicated on the separation of Mr. Raffone at the time of vesting,” Scott Nabel, the city’s public safety human resources officer, said in an email, according to the complaint. ​“The City will have to now look to address his past misconduct and any future violations through disciplinary action.”

Cherlyn Poindexter, Raffone’s union representative at the time, said that was absurd.

“There was any past misconduct you would have addressed it or disciplined John [a] long time ago. John is the one who has been treated unfairly, has been caused undue stress, and harmed by the City’s action,” she stated. ​“I just want to remind you that an ADA accommodation means he deserves equal treatment and shouldn’t be isolated by the employer. We should discuss other options. Discipline isn’t one of them.”

After that exchange, in May 2017, Michael Piscitelli, then the city’s deputy economic development administrator, wrote a memo that accused Raffone of misconduct a year prior. Piscitelli said it could be a fireable offense.

Piscitelli accused Raffone of improperly searching the city’s permit system and having a ​“confusing dialogue” with someone, which Piscitelli said ​“adversely affects our overall service delivery to the permittee.”

Piscitelli added that Raffone had also gotten in touch with a state building official about modifying the state’s code without obtaining permission from his department head, which ​“adversely affected our important professional relationship with State officials.”

In June 2017, the city held a ​“pre-termination meeting.” Raffone’s counsel said that any attempt to discipline him could violate Connecticut’s whistleblower protections. His union representative said Raffone just wanted to get back to work.

“The City of New Haven would rather pay Plaintiff to remain out of work than to be at work pointing out the illegal and unethical practices set forth in this complaint,” Parenteau wrote. Raffone has ​“suffered emotional distress, high blood pressure and an aneurysm based on excessive stress, loss of enjoyment of profession, humiliation and embarrassment.”

But by the terms of the settlement deal, in exchange for one dollar more, Raffone ended his employment with New Haven, retiring on April 30, 2019.

He will keep his medical benefits, life insurance and pension payments. But he cannot bring any other claims against the city, nor can he talk publicly about any alleged corruption, except to law enforcement.

“Mr. Raffone agrees he will not provide information, issue statements, or take any action, directly or indirectly, that would cause New Haven to be held in disrepute or low esteem by the public, including any defamatory statements, except that nothing herein shall prevent Mr. Raffone from providing truthful information and testimony (a) to government authorities; (b) in any legal proceedings; or (c) as required by law,” the settlement says.