NEW YORK — The former head of the Human Rights Campaign is suing the nation’s latest LGBTQ+ rights organization, claiming he was underpaid and fired because he is Black, according to his lawsuit filed in Brooklyn federal court on Thursday.
Alphonso David, a Black civil rights lawyer and onetime president of the HRC, was axed in September after the group investigated his role in former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s attempt to undermine a former staffer who accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct.
“David’s treatment, including his summary termination, differed markedly from how his white predecessor had been treated. During the tenure of David’s predecessor, HRC had endured repeated, serious, scandals — many of which involved HRC’s mistreatment of Black and other marginalized individuals. Nonetheless, HRC took no action against David’s predecessor, let alone terminate him suddenly,” the suit reads.
The lawsuit also claims that David was paid less than his white predecessor at HRC, Chad Griffin, who resigned in 2018. “HRC paid David less than Griffin, for performing the same job, because David is Black,” the document reads.
Prior to heading up the HRC, David was counsel for then-Gov. Cuomo. He was identified in Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation as someone who helped to undermine Lindsey Boylan, a former staffer who was the first to accuse Cuomo of misconduct.
David was part of a group of Cuomo insiders who drafted and got signatures for an anti-Boylan letter following her allegation against Cuomo. While David declined to sign the letter himself, he shared it with others and encouraged them to sign on, James’ report says.
The suit claims that David “did not do anything wrong,” in advising Cuomo.
The lawsuit should come as no surprise, as David said he would sue after he lost his job.
“As a Black, gay man who has spent his whole life fighting for civil and human rights, they cannot shut me up,” David tweeted in September. “Expect legal action.”
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