Who is the Former Prosecutor Claiming Abuse in Neronha’s Office
GoLocalProv News Team and Josh Fenton
Who is the Former Prosecutor Claiming Abuse in Neronha’s Office
Filarski comes from a well-known family in Rhode Island. His father is a noted architect, his mother is an attorney, and his sister Elisabeth DelPadre Hasselbeck, has been a star on television — on Survivor, as a host of The View, and a co-host on Fox & Friends.
For Filarski, who worked in finance as an attorney and in green energy prior to joining the attorney general’s office, this experience has been a major disappointment. Filarski is a graduate of Boston College and Suffolk University Law School.
He once interned in the U.S. Attorney's office when Peter Neronha served as head of the Rhode Island office.
“To work at the Attorney General’s Office has always been an aspiration of mine. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to pursue a career in law enforcement immediately upon receiving my licenses to practice law some 15 years ago. I never lost my ambition, however, and I finally reached a point of success in my private career which allowed me to redirect my attention to public service. I accordingly accepted an offer to work at the Office in 2021,” said Filarski in an interview with GoLocal.
Filarski, in his complaint, detailed what he said were numerous examples of abusive behavior. When GoLocal asked Filarskhi when was it that he realized that it was a work environment that was abusive — Filarski said, "I’d have to refresh my memory to pinpoint exactly when I may have first thought that things didn’t seem right. I can say with absolute confidence, though, that by the time I made reports of misconduct to Sue Urso and Meg McDonough in November 2022, I knew with certainty that the environment was abusive.”
“When I reported the initial incidents, I expected my supervisors to say, ‘Those things obviously shouldn’t happen—especially at the Office of Attorney General—and we’re going to address those things and immediately correct the situation.’ But that didn’t happen. In fact, after again reporting misconduct to Steve Dambruch, Sue Urso, Meg McDonough, and Beth Laskowski on April 20, 2023, they overtly stated their intention to do exactly nothing,” said Filarski.
Filarski said he was surprised that the leadership took no action — they did not investigate or review any of the issues.
“McDonough bizarrely stated, 'It would be unfair for me to go down there and say [to your coworkers that] I had a meeting with you today.' I said, 'Feel free to tell [my coworkers] that I said what I’ve said. I don’t mind if you tell them we’ve had a meeting and ‘Ken said this’… Go for it, if it makes things better.' Dambruch replied, 'Not gonna go there, Ken. Not gonna go down there just to stir up crap, OK? That’s what it would do. You know that. So if I go down there now and say, ‘Well, Ken complained about you, you, and you,’ is that really going to help things?'” recounted Filarski.
He added, “Not only was I surprised that in 2023 there could still be workplace comments about sexual orientation, but I was astonished that my supervisors were aware that it was happening and deliberately chose to do nothing about it.
Filarski says the experience has been traumatic, but has received tremendous support from his family and his friends.
“Every time I share my complaint with someone, I do so without comment or preface or introduction. I do that because I want people to judge the content of my complaint on its merits; I don’t want to be artificially appeased. In every instance, the response I received has been the same: Everyone has independently agreed that the conduct of those managing the Office of Attorney General is reprehensible. The support implicit in such validation is a source of strength for me,” said Filarski.
Neronha’s Behavior
In response to Neronha’s public comments about his allegations, Filarski said, “A management team at the Office of Attorney General should hold itself to a standard far higher than that set for the rest of us. Neronha’s decision to comment publicly about an internal personnel matter is evidence of his poor judgment and lack of professionalism. In the context of my complaint, Neronha’s failure to meet certain standards strongly suggests the existence of a negative trickle-down effect running through his administration.”