By Jessy Edwards, December 7, 2023
“City officials are calling for outgoing New York City jails boss Louis Molina to be investigated after one of his former deputies filed a legal claim saying he and his appointees worked to cover up violence and retaliated against staff who tried to call them out.
On Monday, Ruben Benitez, a 19-year veteran of the city jails department, filed a notice of intent to sue the city and alleged Molina demoted him from head of an elite investigations team to an entry-level position after he reported department misconduct.
Benitez, who was appointed as the department’s acting deputy commissioner of investigations on Molina’s first day in office in January 2022, alleges violations of state law protecting people from retaliation by their employers as well as city corruption rules.
Benitez’s attorney, Sarena Townsend, said he had no choice but to file a claim.
“He was essentially forced to come out publicly because the corruption was unrelenting,” she said.
The news comes as Molina is set to leave the jails department for a promotion at City Hall. His new title will be assistant deputy mayor for public safety, and he’ll continue to oversee the Department of Correction. Molina’s $243,000 salary did not change.
On Wednesday, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Criminal Justice Committee Chair Carlina Rivera issued a statement calling for an investigation into the allegations “by all relevant authorities,” including the city’s Department of Investigation. The Bronx district attorney’s office, the state attorney general’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office could also choose to investigate.
“The commissioner’s alleged involvement in a campaign to cover up violence in the jails would be a betrayal of his duties and raise more serious questions about his recent appointment to be an assistant deputy mayor,” the councilmembers said. The Department of Investigation declined to comment.
Benitez alleges Molina and former aide Manuel Hernandez worked together to try to block the Department of Investigation and a federal monitor from investigating violence and correction officers’ use of force on detainees at the Rikers Island jail complex. Benitez says he kept notes on the pair’s actions and reported his concerns to both authorities.
When Molina found out, he demoted Benitez to an entry-level position vetting new applicants to correction officer jobs, according to the notice. The legal claim also alleges that Benitez’s pay was cut by $40,000.
“[Benitez’s] demotion served not only as retaliation but to gag [him] to allow Molina to continue his illegal behavior under a cloak of secrecy,” the court filing states.
Benitez claims Molina changed department policy so that correction officers can now only be suspended with his approval, overturning at least 19 years of department procedure. He also claims Molina asked city employees to find a way to oust court-appointed federal monitor Steve Martin, who is charged with overseeing conditions at Rikers under a 2015 court agreement.”