Deputy BP Diana Richardson fired from Brooklyn Borough Hall over toxic workplace

The Bobster

Senior News Editor since 2004





By
Allie Griffin


October 11, 2022 1:16am
Updated





Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Diana Richardson has been fired after complaints her behavior -- including physical violence -- from staff.
Brooklyn Borough President Diana Richardson has been fired after complaints of her behavior -- in which included physical violence -- from staff. Paul Martinka


Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Diana Richardson will soon be ousted from borough hall following reports that she created a “toxic” workplace.
Richardson’s boss, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, has fired her following complaints of bad behavior — including physical violence — from staff and constituents, according to the Daily News.
A spokesperson for borough hall told the paper that Richardson “will no longer serve at Brooklyn Borough Hall” beginning next week.
Richardson, former Crown Heights assemblywoman, joined Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso's Borough Hall team before he fired her. Richardson, former Crown Heights assemblywoman, joined Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso’s Borough Hall team before he fired her. Stefan Jeremiah for New York Pos
The former Crown Heights assemblywoman left office to join Reynoso’s team at borough hall.
In that role, she allegedly cursed out staffers, violated COVID-19 protocols, stored a bottle of vodka in her office and nearly fought the head of an anti-violence program, multiple sources aware of the situation told the Daily News.





In the latter incident, Richardson got into a disagreement with Camara Jackson, the head of the anti-violence and mentoring program Elite Learners, and had to be separated from her, Jackson told the paper.
Richardson’s behavior and treatment of staffers got so bad that she was asked to work remotely in order to limit her interactions with colleagues, the outlet reported.
Sources said she kept a bottle of Absolut vodka in her office and struggled with simple tasks like emails and scheduling, but would berate borough hall staffers, according to the Daily News.
The Brooklyn pol had a controversial past while in the state Assembly before signing onto the borough hall team.
In 2017, she was charged with misdemeanor assault, harassment and menacing for allegedly beating her 12-year-old son with a broomstick.





She confessed to beating him and defended the use of corporal punishment in a video posted to social media last year.
In 2018, Richardson made headlines for throwing an “out-of-control” tantrum during a closed-door meeting in which she verbally attacked Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie over funding for one of her pet projects.
Earlier that year, she was accused of anti-Semitism after she made comments suggesting Jewish people were gentrifying her district at a community board meeting.
Richardson didn’t respond to the allegations in the Daily News story.
A spokesperson for the Brooklyn borough president’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
 
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