Former executive director’s job duties focus of testimony
County witnesses say list of grievances in letter calling for firing were true
Former Schenectady County Human Rights Commission Executive Director Angelicia Morris shirked her job responsibilities, was obstructionist, and considered the board more advisory than supervisory, said two witnesses who testified for the county at a hearing where Morris is seeking to clear her name and reputation, which she contends are tarnished.
At issue are the five reasons — negligence and abuse of power, insubordination and a failure to adhere to requests made by the commissioners, failure to perform executive director duties, failure to abide by the group’s bylaws, and compromising the integrity of the commission — outlined in a Feb. 18, 2020 letter from Omar Mcgill, to the county manager, that later became public. At the time of Morris’ firing, Mcgill served as the acting chair of the commission.
Morris’ attorney, Kevin Luibrand, took exception to that language, asserting that his client did her job well, and that commissioners, who sometimes couldn’t make quorum, are trying to make her a scapegoat.
“Ms. Morris was running a oneperson show at the Human Rights Commission — she was it,” said Luibrand, adding she was visible and well-respected in the community and attended meetings “almost daily with local groups, departments, individuals in local and state governments and sometimes federal governments.”
“You’re laying the responsibility that you and your fellow commissioners had on Miss Morris,” the lawyer said.
Mcgill testified Thursday that Morris flouted the organization’s bylaws, citing an example where she defiantly refused to tell commissioners who the keynote speaker for the group’s annual Martin Luther King celebration in January 2020 would be and failing to conduct investigations into discrimination complaints.
“Her executive director reports constantly said there were zero complaints and zero calls made to the office, and so we did not see her to investigate complaints, because that’s what her reports were saying,” said
Mcgill, adding that Morris is the “front line contact for the commission to receive complaints and general calls to the Schenectady County Human Rights Commission.”
“Were there any issues with calls being responded to?” asked Jonathan Bernstein, with the law firm representing the county, during direct questioning of Mcgill.
“There were issues with calls being responded to, and there were certain commissioners who were receiving complaints from the community about their calls not being responded to by our executive director, and ultimately by the commission,” replied Mcgill.
Luibrand argued that the commission didn’t have an investigator on staff or budgeted money to look into complaints, and that that was better handled by the state Division of Human Rights Division’s full staff of investigators. He also contends that she reports to the county manager, not the commissioners.
Luibrand pressed Mcgill for the names of the commissioners who came up with the harsh language Mcgill sent to County Manager Rory Fluman listing the five reasons.
“That was a collective effort, it wasn’t just one commissioner,” responded Mcgill.
Jesse Mcguire, the other witness for the county, testified that in 2018 he submitted a Freedom of Information request to the state Division of Human Rights to see if Morris had forwarded complaints to the state, only to later find out that she hadn’t turned in any, and that she had misinformed commissioners about their authority to look into complaints.
Mcguire, who served as a commissioner since 2017 until his term expired in January and is deputy clerk of the Legislature, described Morris as an “obstructionist who would often refuse to listen to the guidance given to her by the commission.”
He also said the commissioners created a finance committee after concerns arose about expenses Morris submitted and how she unilaterally canceled a Hispanic Heritage Month panel discussion he was helping to organize.
Retired County Court Judge Michael Eidens, who more recently served as Schenectady’s public safety director, is the hearing officer in the proceeding in the legislative chambers at the county building.
The hearing will resume next Thursday with Luibrand cross-examining Mcguire and then laying out the case for Morris. It’s unclear if Morris will take the stand.
Before Mcgill took the stand, the two sides also sparred over who has the burden of proof. Eidens insisted that falls with Morris.
Luibrand disagreed and said he will make his case in post-hearing court papers.
At the end of the hearing, Eidens will make a determination on the accuracy of the five reasons in the statement.
In July, Morris filed a lawsuit against the county demanding the county pay her “back pay, legal fees, costs and disbursements.”