'I will f--king come for you': NYC TLC boss resigns after going off the rails in virtual meeting

2022-06-25 00:23:58 By : Ms. Mandy Ye

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The now-ex-boss of the city Taxi and Limousine Commission went on an expletive-laden tirade last month — warning one staffer, “I will f–king come for you” and even predicting the caught-on-camera spectacle would “be on the New York Post in the morning.”

Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk resigned Wednesday, mere hours after The Post asked city officials about her Feb. 15 virtual meeting to inform some 80 employees that Deputy Commissioner Dianna Pennetti, who had been on leave, wouldn’t be returning to the TLC.

The hour-long meeting quickly deteriorated — with the TLC commissioner snapping at staff questions and repeatedly spewing profanities, according to video and audio recordings obtained by The Post.

“Someone is messing around with the mute and don’t think I won’t figure it out who it is,” Heredia Jarmoszuk growled in one of the videos. “I will f–king come for you.”

She chided another employee who’d asked about working on holidays, telling them, “Work it out with your supervisor.

“But don’t, like, b—h and complain about it because that’s not helpful to any of us.”

She continued railing on the Microsoft Teams meeting, “Don’t come to me with your nyeh-nyeh-nyehs, complaining about little things, because I can complain about everything that’s happening in my life at work, all day every day.”

Then she added, “This is going to be on the New York Post in the morning, apparently.”

Heredia Jarmoszuk was appointed last year by former Mayor Bill de Blasio to head the TLC. She stepped down from the $243,000 post Wednesday, City Hall confirmed.

“We were made aware of this incident last week. We have conducted an internal review and will be accepting her resignation,” said Charles Lutvak, a spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams.

The cringe-worthy videos and audio featuring Heredia Jarmoszuk emerged after a lawsuit was brought against her and the city in December, alleging that she fostered a hostile work environment and routinely bullied employees at the agency.

Former TLC Chief Joseph DeFrancis, 53, and former Deputy Chief Ajay Kapur, 52, claim they were canned by Heredia Jarmoszuk, then replaced with younger women as part of a pattern of discrimination against older men, according to their Manhattan Supreme Court suit.

“She is the commissioner and chair of a New York City agency,” their lawyer Mina Malik told The Post. “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.”

Derek Sells, another lawyer for the men, added, “She is the head of that law enforcement agency. She should not be talking about f–king someone up.”

During the Feb. 15 meeting, Heredia Jarmoszuk also boasted about being the boss when a staffer asked about opening up communication with leadership.

“But I’m leadership, honey,” she snapped. “No, I’m not part of [leadership], I am leadership.”

She also took aim at another employee who’d introduced himself and said that Heredia Jarmoszuk may already know him from a “video.”

“No, I haven’t seen a goddamn video,” she shot back, “but I know who you are on paper.”

DeFrancis and Kapur were both fired by Heredia Jarmoszuk in April last year — because they are older men, they claim.

DeFrancis was let go just six days after he was approved for medical leave for health issues he’s suffered since working at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11 attacks. He claims his ouster was in retaliation for filing various discrimination complaints over Heredia Jarmoszuk’s behavior.

“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,” their Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit alleges.

“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 NYPD veteran with a stellar work record — told The Post that losing his job was devastating.

“I felt unappreciated, depressed, sad, 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 — also an NYPD veteran and the father of three — said he still hasn’t found another job.

“I didn’t know what to do. I have family,” Kapur said. “I have two boys in college … it was very upsetting not only for myself but for my whole family.”

He added, “I went into work every day, did what was required, did my job.”

He said he was fired out of the blue “for being who I am — being an older male.”

Heredia Jarmoszuk — who made $243,000 in 2021, according to SeeThroughNY — was “hand-picked” by de Blasio to lead the TLC, the suit says.

The city Law Department and the TLC didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

The Post left a voice message on a phone number listed for Heredia Jarmoszuk. 

The former TLC chair emailed a statement on Thursday, the day after her resignation.

“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,” she said. “This is certainly something that I will learn and grow from as I move forward.”