EXCLUSIVE: Second Accuser Comes Forward in Providence Housing Scandal
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
A second Providence Housing Authority (PHA) employee has now come forward with sexual harassment accusations against the agency’s longtime executive director, Stephen O’Rourke.
In an interview with GoLocalProv, Sean Pope, a landscape architect with the PHA, corroborated many of the allegations levied against O’Rourke by whistleblower Elizabeth Herosy and added several new incidents to the growing list of complaints.
Pope, who said he met with federal investigators last week, confirmed that his wife was the woman Herosy claimed O’Rourke bent over a conference table in an inappropriate manner several years ago. According to the original complaint, Pope’s wife was so distraught after the incident that she went home and threw away all of the clothes she had been wearing.
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Herosy, the PHA’s executive administrative officer, sent a 37 page complaint late last month that included allegations of “serious misconduct, fraud and perhaps criminal activity” by O’Rourke to the Mayor’s office and various agencies, including the Attorney General’s office, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Labor and Training.
Herosy alleges O’Rourke had a habit of touching his female colleagues and making sexual comments to employees. She said he once “put both of his hands around my waist and squeezed,” humiliating her.
On Monday, Pope, who is currently out of work on a temporary disability, confirmed that O’Rourke had a penchant for making inappropriate comments to women at the agency, so much so that he was timid about revealing that he was dating and ultimately planning to marry a colleague.
He said he never disclosed his relationship to O’Rourke because he was concerned O’Rourke would be upset to learn that one of his favorite female employees was involved with another male in the office.
“I’ve been privy to his sexual comments,” Pope said. “There was a time when he didn't know that me and my [then girlfriend] were together and I had to listen to him make comments about my future wife.”
Pope: Herosy Isn’t Lying
Herosy claims her five year tenure at the PHA has been a “hostile, offensive and extremely stressful” affair and has accused O’Rourke of “gross misconduct” including harassment and discrimination that has resulted in her not receiving any promotions.
In a follow-up complaint, Herosy also claimed O’Rourke had pornographic images on his computer.
“On many occasions over the last several years when Mr. O’Rourke was out of the office he would call me and instruct me to check his emails for him,” Herosy claims. “I would go into his office and use his password to log onto his computer. I would immediately find emails that contained pictures of not only full frontal nude women, but also obscene, vulgar close-ups of breasts and genitals. Several of these emails contained pictures of men and women, and women and women, in sexual acts.”
In his meeting with investigators at the Department of Housing Urban Development, Pope said he confirmed many of Herosy’s claims were accurate.
“The fact is, she isn’t lying,” Pope said. “It’s gotten really ugly in a hurry.”
“Let Her Sign Your Checks”
In February, the PHA’s Board of Commissioners voted to hire an independent lawyer to investigate Herosy’s allegations and a special board meeting to discuss the review is scheduled for Wednesday evening. In addition to the internal investigation and the HUD review, Herosy’s complaint has also been referred to the state police.
Her complaint also includes allegations that nearly a dozen staffers close to O’Rourke regularly fudged their timesheets to suggest they were working when they were really taking extended lunch breaks, arriving for work late and leaving early. She suggests the amount of fraud has “risen to the level of criminality.”
In corroborating Herosy’s claims, Pope said that he and other employees were often pressured by O’Rourke into hanging out for marathon sessions at a local bar after work. He said that he once wanted to go home to his wife after one drink and O’Rourke said, “fine, let her sign your f***ing checks then.”
A Bad Guy
For Pope, O’Rourke’s inappropriate behavior became too much last July when, during a conference held in Boston, “I bought roses for my wife and other female colleagues, just to be nice.” Pope claims that when O’Rourke became aware he purchased the roses, he accused the women of sleeping with Pope.
“He said, ‘what'd you get f***ed by all of them last night,” Pope said.
Pope said he knew it was only a matter of a time before an employee came forward with complaints against O’Rourke and said he is only surprised it didn’t happen sooner.
“I'm shocked that it has taken this long,” Pope said. “In all honesty, this is a guy who has been flirting with disaster for a long time. This is a bad guy. He really is a bad guy.”
The Taveras administration refused to comment for this story.
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