Auditor claims CT city ignored problems. Officials say he was accused of violating city policy

The chief internal auditor for a Connecticut city says he found himself going to work every day for four years with nothing to do.

Then Edward Zack was walked out of the Hall of Records, accompanied by a security guard, short of his planned retirement date, after having reported numerous instances of alleged financial improprieties and shortchanges against the taxpayers of New Haven, he claims.

That’s according to a lawsuit Zack, 74, of Branford has filed against the city, accusing his superiors of creating a workplace atmosphere in which he was “powerless to perform his job, powerless to supervise his subordinates and yet still accountable and/or responsible for the financial auditing and reporting of his office and position.”

Zack also claims, under the state’s whistleblower statute, that he was “wrongfully accused of misconduct in order to jeopardize his pension.” His lawsuit also claims constructive discharge.

Zack worked for the city for 24 years, but said his troubles began under the administration of Mayor Toni Harp, continuing under Mayor Justin Elicker.

Zack said he was waiting to retire until his union, Local 3144 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, could agree on a new contract, which it had been negotiating for three years.

“I was extremely frustrated, but I was held hostage because I had to have my pension, so I had to suck it up,” Zack said during an interview in the office of his attorney, Patricia Cofrancesco of East Haven.

“Even though I was very frustrated, I did my job,” he said. “I documented things, but I had to stay. I told the people, the senior management, of the problems, but I had to stay. I did my job by telling them what their problems are.”

The problems listed in his lawsuit are extensive, including alleged financial irregularities in municipal department and agencies. The city says his claims are not true.

Zack said his salary finally increased from $93,000 to $113,000 in July 2023. However, before he could reach his preferred retirement date, he was placed on administrative leave April 2, 2024, pending an investigation into alleged “misconduct and workplace violence.”

Zack denied anything inappropriate took place but declined to go into detail. Fearing the loss of his pension, he retired on April 19.

“With my educational background and my certifications, I was very demeaned, very insulted for the past four years,” Zack said. “I was not given work to do. With my previous bosses … I was very active.”

He called for hearings by the Board of Alders.

“Do they know of what’s occurring?” he said. “And if they don’t, or if they do, why hasn’t the Board of Aldermen conducted hearings of what’s transpiring in the city of New Haven?”

City Corporation Counsel Patricia King issued a statement in response to Zack’s lawsuit:

“Mr. Zack was placed on paid administrative leave following allegations by a co-worker that he engaged in behavior that violated the City’s workplace violence policy. He chose to retire early rather (than) go through the disciplinary process.

“Mr. Zack then filed this lawsuit in which he advances patently false claims about the City and its employees. Mr. Zack’s claims are without merit and the City will vigorously defend itself in this case,” the statement said.

According to his lawsuit, Zack would bring up issues concerning the city’s financial procedures and processes and would often be told to “drop it” or would simply not hear back. Among the items brought up in the complaint are, in part:

—Vendors hiring police officers for extra-duty work were allegedly overcharged $800,000, which do not appear on the city’s financial statements, the suit alleges. “Moreover, there is no system in place to collect or correct or address these improprieties,” it claims.

The complaint alleges that two then-city officials told Zack’s assistant to continue to bill at that rate because the city’s computer system “could not change the rates.”

—Zack performed a draft audit of another department which allegedly revealed “multiple financial and operational concerns with provided recommendations as to the proper running of the…Department,” according to the lawsuit. He asked for approval to release the audit in final form but no response was received, it states. “To date, the said Audit has not been released,” it states.

—The city’s 911 system alarms allegedly “were not fully functioning thereby jeopardizing safety,” according to the suit. Zack reported a 14-second delay in the city receiving calls, it states. It goes on to say city officials had been aware of the problem for five months and that an official “issued an email addressing ‘65% of the problem.’”

—More than 75 contracts for federal funding for non-profit agencies allegedly were not being executed in a timely manner by a city office, “thereby forcing the sub-recipients to borrow funds, incur interest charges, expend personal funds and dip into their own reserves in order to continue to operate,” the lawsuit claims.

—No financial or statistical information was provided by the Transportation, Traffic and Parking Department about the number of parking tickets written or collected by the city, “which could amount to … several Million Dollars per year which affects the City’s mill rate,” the suit states.

—There was an alleged lack of internal controls concerning acquisition and disposal of fixed assets, which “affects the cost of insurance coverage to the defendant City of New Haven including its vehicles,” according to the suit.

—Phones in various agencies were not working, according to the suit.

It states that a former emergency management director reported he had six phones out in the emergency center. It states that Zack was able to get the phones back in operation, with the help of the emergency management director and others.

—Zack reported in an audit an alleged safety hazard for lifeguards and beachgoers at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven in that there is a blind spot on the beach at the edge of the water,” the suit states. He was told to “drop it,” it states.

—Records indicated that street-lighting bills were allegedly paid by one department without the approval of Transportation, Traffic and Parking, the suit claims.

—Alling Memorial Golf Course was allegedly mismanaged, according to the suit, including “delays in construction, over-budgeting, loss of restaurant revenues, scheduling of tee time and the dissatisfaction of golfers.”

The suit alleges that Zack was “stripped of all audit responsibilities to the point where he had no work within the scope of his employment during the course of the workday causing the plaintiff to ask the City ‘what is my job?’

“The plaintiff also questioned his then-Supervisors…: ‘is there … anything that I can do?’ Instead, the plaintiff was met with a uniform response by the defendant City, acting by and through (then-supervisors): ‘we have nothing for you to do right now’ or ‘we will let you know,’” the suit states.

It states that city officials “were careful in (their) exile of the plaintiff so as not to trigger a Grievance by his Union.”

Cofrancesco said, “The allegations in the complaint speak for themselves, and they speak to a wholesale lack of fiscal mismanagement and administrative malfeasance on the part of the affected city departments that Ed Zach religiously made city officials aware of, and for which he was ultimately punished by taking away his job responsibilities, which in turn led to a premature retirement.”

Ed Stannard can be reached at estannard@courant.com