Embattled Providence Housing Director Tells His Side of the Story

Embattled Providence Housing Director Tells His Side of the Story

Hours before board members unanimously voted to place him on administrative leave, the longtime executive director of the Providence Housing Authority (PHA) spoke out for the first time against the woman whose damaging accusations have placed his career at risk, labeling her a disgruntled employee who is angry she has never been promoted.

In a sit-down interview with GoLocalProv, Stephen O’Rourke, who is credited with helping turn a troubled agency that had Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials considering placing it in receivership over two decades ago into a “high performing” $45 million operation, said he was shocked by claims that he sexually harassed female employees, kept pornography on his work computer and mismanaged federal funds.

HUD is in the process of investigating the accusations made in a 37-page complaint by whistleblower employee Elizabeth Herosy, who describes her five-year tenure as the PHA’s executive administrative officer as “hostile, offensive and extremely stressful.” Herosy claims O’Rourke touched her and other female employees inappropriately, including once squeezing her hips.

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Many of Herosy’s claims have been corroborated by Sean Pope, another PHA employee who has told federal investigators he has heard O’Rourke make offensive comments to female employees. He also claimed O’Rourke once bent his wife (then an employee at the PHA) over a desk, a charge O’Rourke flatly denies.

Accuser “Never Said Anything”

But O’Rourke, who was appointed the agency’s executive director in 1987 under former Mayor Joseph Paolino, said neither Herosy nor any other employee ever came forward with a single complaint before she went to HUD, Mayor Angel Taveras, the Attorney General and the Department of Labor and Training with her accusations.

“If she was offended, she should have said something at the time,” O’Rourke said. “She never said anything.”

O’Rourke points to the fact that nearly half his workforce is made up of females and that many women have been placed in leadership positions as evidence that he has treated women with respect during his tenure with the agency. He admits that he was once accused of sexual harassment “in the early ‘90s,” but officials eventually found no evidence of any wrongdoing.

“I’ve done so much for women in this office,” O’Rourke said. “If I’m this serial harasser, why would so many women still be here? This [complaint] came from out of nowhere.”

Disgruntled Employees

For O’Rourke, the accusations are being made by a woman who became unhappy after she was not promoted on a several occasions. He says she applied for jobs she was not qualified for, some of which required a college degree.

“She is really like a secretary,” O’Rourke said. “She was obviously disappointed she didn’t get a job in [the finance department.] She also didn’t get along with people. A lot of people complained about her to me.”
O’Rourke also said many of Herosy’s claims regarding financial mismanagement of the organization are “absolutely false,” pointing to the agency’s $3 million surplus this year as evidence that he he been successful despite difficult financial restraints.

In her complaint, Herosy also accused several favored employees of committing timesheet fraud, saying they took extended lunch breaks and left work early to go out drinking with O’Rourke on Fridays. O’Rourke said that while he has created a tradition he calls “long lunch Fridays,” his employees were not breaking any rules.

“I Don’t Know if that’s Porn”

O’Rourke also challenged Herosy’s claims that she found pornography on his work computer. In her complaint, she says, “on many occasions over the last several years when Mr. O’Rourke was out of the office he would call me and instruct me to check his emails for him,” Herosy claims. “I would go into his office and use his password to log onto his computer. I would immediately find emails that contained pictures of not only full frontal nude women, but also obscene, vulgar closeups of breasts and genitals. Several of these emails contained pictures of men and women, and women and women, in sexual acts.”

But O’Rourke questions why Herosy was ever on his computer in the first place. He said the only time she was ever asked to use the computer was to reboot it. He said that while he has received pictures from some friends, most of the e-mails Herosy saw were cartoons or spam. He said he doesn’t consider other material she may have seen offensive.

“Sports Illustrated and Playboy,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s porn.”

“My Career is on the Line”

Still, O’Rourke admits Herosy and Pope’s claims have hurt him personally. Despite receiving letters and e-mails of support from colleagues and friends since the complaint became public, he acknowledged that he considered resigning prior to last night’s board meeting.

He said he was disappointed by a lack of support from some board members and Mayor Taveras, who has returned $500 in campaign contributions and said he has no plans of speaking to O’Rourke during the investigation.

“I’ve been in public service for 33 years,” he said. “If I was such a bad guy, why would I be here?”

And for a Providence native who grew up in public housing only to become the agency’s executive director and later, a finalist for an assistant secretary’s position at HUD, the claims have taken their toll.

“My career is on the line,” O’Rourke said. “What makes it worse is that these are people I really like.”

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