Former employee sues Queens Defenders
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Executive Director of the Queens Defenders Lori Zeno allegedly retaliated against a former employee after they made several accommodation requests, a new lawsuit alleges. AP file photo by Kevin Hagen
By Jacob Kaye
A New Jersey woman filed a complaint this week against the Queens Defenders, her former employer, and its co-founder alleging workplace discrimination and retaliation, federal court filings show.
Dana Longstreet, who formerly worked as the director of communications and institutional giving at Queens Defenders, said her old bosses violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and retaliated against her when she requested time off for health reasons, according to the complaint filed Aug. 3.
Longstreet, who was hired at the public defenders’ organization in August 2019, says that Lori Zeno, the executive director of Queens Defenders, wasn’t accommodating when Longstreet requested to work from home for several days of the week as per her doctor's orders, the complaint alleges.
The former communications director with the organization said she has multiple illnesses, including Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, carpal tunnel and arthritis, according to the filing. The commute from her New Jersey home to the organization’s New Jersey office made these conditions worse, Longstreet said.
Following the request, Longstreet said Zeno, one of her supervisors, began to retaliate against the employee.
In one case, Zeno mockingly read a press release authored by Longstreet out loud, according to the filings.
“As Zeno had previously only praised my writing, I understood this behavior to reflect her feelings of hostility towards me for having made the reasonable accommodation request,” Longstreet said.
According to the complaint, not long after making the request, Longstreet began to be iced out of meetings she would normally be involved in.
“Prior to the January 6, 2020 meeting to discuss my reasonable accommodation request, I had attended weekly meetings with Zeno and [Director of Development Brian] Schatz, as well as other senior staff meetings,” the complaint reads. “Following that meeting, I was excluded from these weekly meetings and other senior staff meetings. I was also left out of calls related to my position.”
Eventually, Longstreet’s responsibilities as communications director were allegedly assigned to other employees in the organization.
Zeno did not respond to request for comment for this story.
‘Abusive work environment’
In addition to allegedly retaliating against Longstreet, Zeno fostered an “abusive work environment,” according to the complaint.
At a sexual harassment training in October 2019, the trainer said that employees should not gossip about their co-workers’ relationships to which Zeno said “Everyone knows everyone here is f––king everyone else and we all talk about it,” adding, “they’re f––king idiots. I always call people f––king idiots,” the filing says.
On May 11, 2020, Zeno allegedly hosted an in-person meeting in Far Rockaway as New York City’s shelter at home order was in place. According to Longstreet, Zeno hugged everyone and did not wear a mask in the room alongside around 20 employees.
After filing several more requests for reasonable accommodations over the course of 2020, Longstreet quit in September.
Longstreet’s complaint isn’t the first time Zeno has been accused of fostering an unfriendly work environment.
Zeno was staunchly opposed to Queens Defenders attorneys’ efforts to unionize earlier this year, and fired two staffers related to the effort.
Zeno denied the firings were retaliatory to the Eagle in February, adding that both employees had committed ethical violations and neglected their responsibilities at work.
The attorneys voted in favor of the union in March.
