Former Providence Employee Sues City Alleging Racism and Retaliation
GoLocalProv News Team
Former Providence Employee Sues City Alleging Racism and Retaliation
In a 14-page lawsuit filed last week in federal court in the District of Rhode Island, Aiyah Josiah-Faeduwor says he was micromanaged by a white supervisor while he worked remotely - and that other white colleagues were not treated in the same manner.
Following Josiah-Faeduwor's termination, in stark contrast, Providence’s newest HR Director - Paul Winspeare, whose salary is $132,567 - worked at the same time as Personnel Director for a town in Massachusetts, as GoLocal first reported in June 2024.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDespite his second job which was not known by Providence officials, he continues in his role as the city of Providence's "Chief People Officer."
Hiring and Track-Record
According to the lawsuit, Josiah-Faeduwor - who has two Master’s Degrees from MIT in City Planning and Business Administration and a Bachelor’s in Public Policy from Brown University - applied for the position of Manager of Engagement Programs within the city’s Department of Planning and Development.
The lawsuit maintains the position was created in response to a specific event — the murder of George Floyd.
“Upon information and belief, the Position was created as a response to the murder of George Floyd to ensure that Defendant City residents and community members had understanding, access, and agency in being involved in and making decisions around planning processes as they pertained to their respective communities,” according to the lawsuit.
Josiah-Faeduwor was hired in February 2022, and said during his time with the city, he was “a loyal, productive, and excellent employee with no prior history of attendance or performance deficiencies or warnings for disciplinary actions — prior to his unlawful retaliatory termination.”
He is being represented by Joshua Xavier and Danilo Borgas with Sinapi Law.
Allegations of Racial Discrimination
In the lawsuit, Josiah-Faeduwor alleges he was “[harassed] on the basis of his race” by his direct supervisor Timothy Rondeau, the City of Providence’s “Director of Communications & External Affairs at that time.”
The lawsuit state that during the week of April 3, 2022, Josiah-Faeduwor worked in-person on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and he left for a trip to Atlanta, Georgia from Thursday, April 7, 2022 through Sunday, April 10, 2022.
“[Josiah-Faeduwor] planned to work remotely on Thursday, April 7, 2022 and Friday, April 8, 2022. At that time, the Department required employees to work at least three (3) days in the office each week and allowed employees to work remotely the remaining two days,” according to the lawsuit. “Given that Josiah-Faeduwor had ensured his travel plans did not interfere with meetings, that he was fully available from 9 AM to 5 PM on April 7 and April 8 as he would be if he had worked in-person, and that he had the means and ability to fulfill his work-related responsibilities completely on those two dates, Plaintiff did not communicate to Mr. Rondeau the exact details of his travel.”
“On the morning of April 7, 2022, Mr. Rondeau sent text messages to Plaintiff’s personal cell phone, asking if Plaintiff was coming into work, and then sent questions regarding exactly when Plaintiff was leaving for Atlanta, and why certain items were or were not on Plaintiff’s desk at work,” the lawsuit continues. “Mr. Rondeau’s questioning of [Josiah-Faeduwor] was substantially more invasive than the questioning he made to the Department’s Neighborhood Liaison at that time, Tim Shea whenever Shea was out of the office.”
According to Josiah-Faeduwor, “Upon information and belief, Mr. Shea’s race is white.”
Josiah-Faeduwor said he contacted Jeff Almeida, the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer in Human Resources, and “asked for confirmation that Mr. Rondeau’s above-described invasive line of questioning was inappropriate, which Mr. Almeida did so confirm to Plaintiff over the telephone.”
The lawsuit contends that Rondeau continued to question Josiah-Faeduwor, in treatment that he says differed from Rondeau's handling of other colleagues.
Whistleblowing Allegations and Firing
Josiah-Faeduwor said he then raised issues that at a conference in San Diego from April 30, 2022 through May 3, 2022, that he did not see now-former Planning Director Bonnie Nickerson or Deputy Planning Director Robert Azar at the conference itself, despite being paid by the city to be there.
The lawsuit states that Josiah-Faeduwor sent the following to Nickerson.
"It was concerning to me that I didn’t see you or Bob at any of the events, nor was any attempt made to reach out and connect, which raised two issues for me," he wrote. "1) either the conference was underutilized by others who could have gone and allowed for more support and collaborative gathering of information and networks to bring back to [the Department] and 2) a clear indication/affirmation that for some reason, I am being treated in a way that makes me feel ostracized – i.e. attending a conference with my most senior leadership, who didn’t elect to reach out, connect with etc. a recent hire, still learning the job, building relationships, seeking to find comfort in his role/organization."
After raising his concerns, Josiah-Faeduwor said he was “terminated effective immediately” at a meeting with Nickerson, Azar, and HR on May 6, 2022.
Seeking Legal Remedies
According to the suit, Josiah-Faeduwor had filed a charge of discrimination with the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights (the “Commission”) and the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ((“EEOC”) in March 2023; and in August 2024, requested a right to sue.
This Commission and the EEOC then both issued Josiah-Faeduwor a “Notice of Right to Sue.”
Josiah-Faeduwor is suing on three counts, alleging he was illegally retaliated against in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Fair Employment Practices Act under Rhode Island General Law, and the Rhode Island Whistleblowers Protection Act.
"The city does not comment on pending litigation," said Josh Estrella, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley's Director of Communications.