Ten months after the head of New York City’s largest transit-worker union was ousted over allegations of sexual misconduct, another ousted union leader is suing for the details of the ex-president’s severance agreement.
John Paul “JP” Patafio, a former vice-president of Transport Worker’s Union Local 100 and current bus driver, filed suit along with two other union members in Brooklyn Federal Court late Monday, alleging that the union’s January severance agreement with former local president Richie Davis amounted to “a corrupt misuse of union resources.”
As first reported by the Daily News, Davis stepped down in January after being suspended amid an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct involving a subordinate. He signed a severance agreement with Local 100 promising him 100 weeks of pay and health insurance through the end of 2026.
MTA Driver And Passengers Injured In Crash
Patafio, who at the time was a member of the union’s executive committee, says in the complaint filed Monday that neither he nor the other members of the executive committee were provided a written copy of that agreement, and were asked to approve it based on an oral summary provided by then-acting, now-current president John Chiarello.
According to the suit, Patafio was the sole vote against the separation agreement. Two days later — according to an exhibit attached to the complaint — Patafio emailed the committee members, calling on them to meet and discuss “how we can undo this severance agreement.” The suit says Patafio continued to lobby leadership to revisit the deal for several months.
“We must explore how we can cancel this deal,” he wrote. “The membership hates it. It makes us look bad, real bad. And in truth it just isn’t right.”
The suit seeks a court order allowing Patafio and his two co-plaintiffs — union members Zachary Arcidiacono and Haile DaBreo — “full access to examine and copy” the severance agreement.
Patafio has not been without his own troubles in the union. In August, he was ousted from his leadership position and removed from the executive committee for reportedly trying to demote a TWU rep who was allegedly cheating on his bus-driver wife with another bus driver.
The union cited Patafio for attempting to mete out discipline unilaterally. Patafio currently drives a bus in Brooklyn.
“JP is a disgraced bus driver,” a TWU Local 100 spokesperson said in a statement responding to the suit. “The executive board, the local’s elected governing body, voted overwhelmingly to remove him from office.”
