ALBANY – The day after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he would resign under a cloud of scandal, then-Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul pledged to change the culture that had existed within Cuomo’s office and contributed to his downfall.
“No one will ever describe my administration as a toxic work environment,” Hochul told reporters on Aug. 11, 2021, less than two weeks before she took over as New York’s governor.
Hochul soon hired a longtime close friend, Joan Kesner, as her office’s Western New York director.
During the summer of 2022, three administration staffers filed separate complaints alleging Kesner’s conduct had created a toxic work environment. The allegations included that Kesner would yell at and belittle subordinates or disparage them behind their backs, according to documents obtained by The Buffalo News and people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
People are also reading…
Kesner denies the allegations.
“I treat everybody with respect,” Kesner said in an interview. “I would do nothing to ever hurt anybody.”
After Kesner explained her side of the story to Hochul’s human relations staff, she said, the inquiries were “dropped.”
“It was a matter of disgruntled employees,” Kesner said. “They were there prior to me coming on board. There were issues every day (caused) by them. I wasn’t happy with them on the staff, and I made that recommendation that they be placed someplace else.”
Two complainants did ultimately leave the Governor’s Office: One for a position outside the Hochul administration late last year, another for a different state agency six months ago. A Hochul spokesman said both departed voluntarily.
Kesner left Hochul’s staff 10 months ago. In October, Hochul recommended Kesner for a new post: Chairing the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., which is responsible for overseeing development of Buffalo’s waterfront.
Yet questions remain about the thoroughness of Hochul administration inquiries into one of the governor’s closest friends.
A promised shift
In October 2021, Hochul announced two reforms to “radically change the culture in Albany politics” and “promote a respectful and collaborative environment.”
One was the creation of a human relations department within the Governor’s Office. But that department allegedly never interviewed key witnesses in the Kesner matter; Kesner was never asked about one complaint at all, she said.
The second reform was hiring an outside law firm to handle discrimination-related complaints in the Executive Chamber. Hochul said the new procedure would provide Chamber staff the “option to file an anonymous complaint.”
One such complaint was filed against Kesner; the exact circumstances are not clear, but Kesner did learn the complainant’s identity.
Hochul spokesman Avi Small told The News that Hochul had no role in the outcome of the investigations.
“The governor never directed, implied or suggested that Executive Chamber staff or outside counsel should make a particular decision related to this matter,” Small said. “The Executive Chamber under Gov. Hochul’s leadership has strong policies in place to protect employees from inappropriate workplace conduct, and the Executive Chamber follows these policies consistently for all employees.”
Kesner and Hochul go back decades. Kesner managed Hochul’s first successful campaign for office – Hamburg Town Board – in 1994. Three years later, Hochul encouraged Kesner to fill a vacant position on the Town Board and voted to confirm her appointment. For a decade, the women served together on the board. Hochul helped select Kesner’s husband to be Hamburg police chief in 2007.
Kesner, who had served for 26 years as the executive assistant to former State Sen. William Stachowski, was later employed as district manager of Hochul’s congressional office from June 2011 to March 2012.
When Hochul was sworn in as governor in August 2021, Kesner was among a select group of non-family members invited.
The day before, Kesner came on as the Buffalo-based regional director of her Western New York office.
Within a year, workers began complaining.
The first complaint
The first to file a complaint, in June 2022, was a male former staffer in Hochul’s Buffalo office. He provided documents to The News on the condition that his name not be published. Hochul’s office and Kesner are aware of the staffer’s name.
The staffer, who previously had a leadership role in the governor’s Western New York office, wrote in his complaint that over nine months working with Kesner, he’d been on the receiving end of the “most toxic workplace behavior I’ve seen in my almost ten years of state service.”
“Since the day that Joan Kesner started in this administration, it’s clear to me (and others, who have told me they see it too) that she has gone out of her way to single me out, to harass me, and to create an uncomfortable and toxic work environment for me,” the staffer wrote. “Despite repeated conversations I have had about Joan with senior members of the administration, the issues have persisted. Joan often talks in the office about her close relationship with Governor Hochul and how they talk constantly. From my view, this seems to be a factor in the lack of action taken by anyone in this administration.”
Hochul's early outspokenness in Hamburg led her down a path that led to government jobs at the county and federal level before she became lieutenant governor.
The four-page letter – titled “Memo on WNY Workplace Culture” – included allegations that Kesner frequently disparaged the complainant behind his back, in staff meetings and at public events, including one held by President Biden to honor victims of the Tops supermarket shooting, which had occurred in Buffalo three days earlier. Kesner allegedly began yelling “Stop it!” in the male staffer’s face over a perceived slight, in front of the families of victims.
“Joan has said to me at least 20 times, if not more, that she could have gotten rid of me when she accepted this position, but she allowed me to stay on,” the complaint states. “I reported this to (Deputy Secretary for Appointments and Human Resources Sita Fey), who said this was absolutely untrue. It hasn’t stopped Joan from saying it again and again. … It’s clear to me that she wants me to feel like I owe her something.”
The first complaint also stated that Kesner had “chewed” out a female staffer – the woman who would file the second complaint – for 45 minutes, an alleged dressing-down said to bring the female staffer to tears. According to the male staffer’s complaint, Kesner had been offended by an age-related joke the woman had made on a co-worker’s birthday.
Kesner told The News she never chewed out the female staffer.
“She did make a comment. ... She laughed at me that I was older,” Kesner said. “I probably could have turned her in. But never did I go to (human relations) on it.”
Of the male staffer who filed the first complaint, Kesner said, “I don’t know why he was so jealous.”
Concerning the Biden event, Kesner called that allegation “fraud.”
“I had witnesses right with me,” Kesner said. “That never happened.”
Kesner also disputed ever telling the male staffer she could have “gotten rid” of him.
According to emails the male staffer provided to The News, Hochul’s office kept the complainant in the dark for months about the results of its investigation.
The male staffer first sent his complaint to Hochul’s internal human relations director, Chuck McElrath, in June 2022.
A week later, the male staffer wrote a follow-up email to McElrath, stating Kesner had told a colleague the staffer was “gone” from the Buffalo office, and that Kesner was having state police remove his belongings.
“This was news to me, as I have had zero communication with the Executive Chamber concerning my employment status,” the staffer wrote to McElrath. “I can only come to the conclusion that she is aware that I filed a complaint against her. I believe this is 100% retaliation on her end, and I’m curious as to what this administration is going to do about it.”
Kesner told The News she never contacted state police.
According to emails, the male staffer and McElrath then had a 15-minute phone conversation in which McElrath asked questions about the complaint; McElrath said he hoped the investigation would be wrapped up in the next few days. McElrath asked for names of others who might be able to provide additional details about alleged behavior, and the male staffer provided three.
The male staffer remained employed by the Hochul administration, but worked from home. He didn’t hear anything back from McElrath and sent a follow-up email on Sept. 6, 2022 – 77 days after the complaint was filed – asking about the outcome of the investigation, and whether the three witnesses had been contacted.
McElrath responded later that day, writing, “After review of your written summary and speaking with staff, HR was unable to conclude that there was a workplace violence or discrimination situation in the WNY office, though we did confirm areas of concern.”
“We have been working with Chamber management to address those, including improving communication and reporting structure.”
The complaint had not alleged workplace violence or discrimination, but that Kesner had created a toxic workplace.
McElrath’s response never addressed whether specific toxic workplace allegations were substantiated. McElrath also never answered the question of whether the three witnesses had been contacted.
The male staffer told The News that, based on conversations he’d had with witnesses, at least two of the three were not interviewed by Hochul’s office.
A Hochul spokesman said he was legally prohibited from specifying which witnesses were interviewed.
The second complaint
That same summer, a second staffer in Hochul’s Buffalo office – this time a woman – filed a complaint with Hochul’s human relations office. The complaint was said to concern comments Kesner allegedly made to the woman creating a toxic workplace and causing the staffer significant anxiety.
The News was unable to obtain a copy of the second complaint.
It’s not clear what was done to investigate the concerns, or if the woman was ever notified of any result.
Kesner said she spoke to Hochul’s human relations staff by phone about the first complaint, but was never asked about the second; Kesner had been unaware of its existence, she said.
According to Kesner, Hochul’s human relations staff never asked whether she had yelled at co-workers.
“That was never even brought to my attention, about me raising my voice,” Kesner said.
Kesner described the woman who filed the second complaint as a “lovely lady.”
The third complaint
A third complaint was filed later in the summer of 2022 with Calcagni & Kanefsky, outside counsel the Hochul administration had on retainer to investigate discrimination, discriminatory harassment and retaliation in the Executive Chamber. The firm’s retention was one of Hochul’s key workplace initiatives.
Gov. Kathy Hochul pledged a new spirit of cooperation among the levels of government, a booster dose of public transparency and even a “culture” change in Albany.
Hostile workplace complaints filed by the governor’s staff that do not allege discrimination – such as the first two complaints – must be first filed with the Executive Chamber’s internal human relations staff, which serves at the pleasure of the governor.
Staff complaints alleging workplace bullying stemming from discrimination, which is illegal, are instead directed to file claims with the outside firm. The third complaint made such an allegation.
This investigation appeared to center on whether Kesner’s treatment of a staff member constituted discrimination based on legally protected statuses, which can include factors like race, gender, sexuality or disability. Information about this complaint was provided to The News by a witness interviewed by the law firm – not by the complainant.
The News was unable to obtain a copy of the third complaint.
Whether or how this complaint was ultimately resolved is unknown. But Kesner is aware of the third complainant’s identity.
Kesner said she was approached at one point about “one small issue that was immediately resolved” related to the complainant; from Kesner’s response, it was not entirely clear who approached her.
Asked why three staffers would risk filing complaints against the governor’s close friend, Kesner said: “I have no idea. … And it actually breaks my heart, because I felt I was very fair to these people.”
“I inherited a team that was there prior. They had their own ways of doing things,” Kesner said. “And I wanted to make sure we were doing everything right. … We would have weekly meetings … and we would go around the table and everybody would talk about what’s going on. And I just thought that was a great way to pull a team together.”
At Hochul’s direction, Kesner inserted herself into the affairs of multiple state entities that share a floor on 95 Perry St. with the governor’s Buffalo-based staff.
That created tensions with some holdover staff from the Cuomo days. And the lines of authority were not always clear: Some staffers in the office were listed on organizational charts as formally reporting to people in Albany. According to the male Buffalo staffer’s complaint, Kesner got upset when he took direction from another manager.
Kesner often reminded staff of her close relationship with the governor, including stating that the two had weekly meals together, according to three people who worked with Kesner.
When The News asked about those alleged statements, Kesner said: “What’s wrong with that? We’ve been friends for 30 years.”
After 17 months, Kesner left the Executive Chamber, a decision based on wanting to return to retirement and spend more time with family.
Last month, in announcing Kesner’s appointment to an unpaid position chairing the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., Hochul called Kesner a dedicated and talented leader whose “collaborative spirit” would ensure continued progress on initiatives.