The president of the union representing the city’s deputy sheriffs was transferred out of her unit and punished by Sheriff Anthony Miranda and his team for questioning the agency’s crackdown on illegal pot shops and several personnel changes, a city Office of Collective Bargaining report says.
After reviewing union president Ingrid Simonovic’s complaint about her transfer in 2023, the Office of Collective Bargaining concluded that she “would not have been transferred were it not for her union activity” and ordered her returned to her previous post on March 6.
The Sheriff’s actions “were taken in retaliation for protected union activity,” Office of Collective Bargaining Director Susan Panepento wrote in her decision.
The report highlights the ongoing rift between Simonovic, the New York City Deputy Sheriff’s Association, and Miranda. As the union continues to negotiate for a new contract with the city, members are demanding Miranda’s resignation, claiming the Sheriff has mismanaged the agency, mistreated its workforce and exhibited sexist behavior toward Simonovic.
Simonovic is the only female president of all the city’s uniformed labor unions. In December 2022 she filed a sex discrimination complaint against Miranda and the city with the state Division of Human Rights.
Following an investigation, the state agency in September found that “probable cause exists to believe that (Miranda and the city) have engaged in or are engaging in the unlawful discriminatory practice complained of” and recommended a public hearing on the matter, state documents show. The hearing has yet to be scheduled.
Simonovic believes Miranda ignores her questions and concerns about his leadership because she’s a woman.
“Miranda won’t meet with me,” she told The News last week. Complaints filed against the Sheriff’s office include allegations that Simonovic has been barred from the Sheriff’s office.
“I’m being treated differently than my male counterparts in the other unions,” she said.
Simonovic was moved out of a Homeland Security task force, where she was working on several investigations, and sent to work the night shift at the Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Bureau in Manhattan in February 2023 following several heated meetings she had with Miranda’s leadership team over changes to employee hours and the city’s push to have the Sheriff’s office lead the city’s pot shop enforcement.
When she was transferred, her new supervisor, Undersheriff Orpheus Cuttino said management reassigned her to Manhattan “so I can watch you,” according to her testimony to the Office of Collective Bargaining.
“Good, now nobody can say that the union president has a cushy gig,” Cuttino said, adding he wasn’t going to give her “any special treatment,” according to the report.
Instead, Simonovic was forced to work 2 p.m. to 12 a.m. even though everyone else in the bureau finished their shift at 10 p.m. She was also forced to work five days a week when her normal shift was four days, according to the findings of the improper practice proceeding.
“The fact that President Simonovic was assigned to work a schedule different from the other bargaining unit members in the New York County Law Enforcement Bureau, ensuring that she would be alone in the office for several hours each shift reinforces the retaliatory nature of her re-assignment,” the OCB noted.
When Simonovic, a nursing mother, asked to go to the building’s lactation room, Cuttino refused, claiming that management “didn’t want (her) wandering around the building.” In turn, Cuttino said she could express milk at an office next to his, the report states.
“These unrebutted statements sent a clear message that President Simonovic was reassigned to subject her to greater supervision, scrutiny, or surveillance, indicating that the assignment was made in retaliation for her union activity,” OCB determined.
Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News
New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda is pictured at a smoke shop raid in downtown Manhattan last year. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News)
In its testimony, the Department of Finance, which oversees the Sheriff’s office, said Miranda had decided to move deputy sheriffs out of specialized units long before the heated meetings with the union. The city said Cuttino’s comments were uncorroborated and are “attributed to a (staffer) who does not speak for the Department of Finance.”
As of Friday, Simonovic remains working at the Manhattan office and has not been returned to her previous post. The city’s Department of Finance was reviewing the OCB determination and did not immediately return a request for comment. The Sheriff’s Department also did not respond.
Deputy Sheriffs are responsible for executing eviction notices, orders of protection, and investigating financial and tax fraud. When Adams appointed Miranda, the Sheriff’s office was tasked with also inspecting illegal cannabis shops in the city but a recent court ruling has curbed that work.
Simonovic and the union are calling for Miranda’s resignation, claiming he has created a “hostile work environment” that has led to an exodus of rank-and-file members. In complaints against Miranda, the union has claimed the city sheriff has “discriminated” and “retaliated” against union members. Since 2022, the union has lodged more than 13 complaints against Miranda and his executives with various agencies, which are still pending.
