Alphonso David, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation\u2019s largest L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy organization, was ousted by the group\u2019s board on Monday night over a report revealing that he had advised former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on how to handle sex harassment allegations.<\/p>\n
Mr. David, the group\u2019s first Black president, was terminated \u201cfor cause\u201d in separate votes by the boards of the Human Rights Campaign and its affiliated foundation after the two boards held a joint meeting. Beyond two abstentions from the foundation board, the votes were unanimous.<\/p>\n
Mr. David\u2019s removal is the latest fallout from the report by Letitia James, the New York State attorney general, describing allegations of sexual harassment by Mr. Cuomo, and efforts by his aides to retaliate against the former governor\u2019s accusers. Mr. Cuomo resigned in August after the report outlined 11 allegations and described a toxic work environment.<\/p>\n
Mr. David, who had worked as a lawyer in Mr. Cuomo\u2019s office, was identified in the James report as involved in efforts to undermine Mr. Cuomo\u2019s first accuser, Lindsey Boylan. Despite no longer working there, Mr. David had a memo in his possession containing confidential information about Ms. Boylan\u2019s employment history. He shared the memo with one of Mr. Cuomo\u2019s communications advisers who were hoping to release details to reporters. Mr. David has maintained that he had an obligation as a lawyer to do so.<\/p>\n
Mr. David also suggested edits to a letter intended to malign Ms. Boylan that was being circulated among Mr. Cuomo and his aides, and said that he would collect signatures for it from former aides. He declined to sign it himself, however, and he later said that he did not know the extent of the allegations against Mr. Cuomo. He called for Mr. Cuomo\u2019s resignation after the report came out.<\/p>\n
A person familiar with the deliberations among the board of the Human Rights Campaign said that Mr. David never told the organization that he was helping to advise Mr. Cuomo when the accusations came to light. The person said Mr. David did not consult the group\u2019s counsel, or tell them that he was going to be interviewed by Ms. James\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the co-chairs of the board, Morgan Cox and Jodie Patterson, said they had decided to end Mr. David\u2019s role \u201ceffective immediately, for violations of his contract with the Human Rights Campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a painful moment in our movement,\u201d they wrote. \u201cWhile the board\u2019s decision is not the outcome we had ever envisioned or hoped for in terms of Mr. David\u2019s tenure with H.R.C., his actions have put us in an untenable position by violating H.R.C.\u2019s core values, policies and mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement also touched on a public quarrel that had unfolded between Mr. David and the board over the weekend, after Mr. David said that he had been told that a review of his actions had been completed without any finding of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday and today, Mr. David released a statement that included significant untruths about the investigation and his status with the organization,\u201d Mr. Cox and Ms. Patterson said. <\/p>\n
The review was conducted by members of the H.R.C. executive committee. They determined that Mr. David had a conflict of interest in advising Mr. Cuomo\u2019s office, and that his efforts created reputational damage to the organization. Joni Madison, the chief operating officer for the group, will become the interim president while a search takes place for Mr. David\u2019s successor.<\/p>\n
Mr. David is not the only liberal ally of Mr. Cuomo to become ensnared in the James report. Recently, the prominent lawyer Roberta A. Kaplan, a co-founder of the Time\u2019s Up Legal Defense Fund, whose mission is to fight for sexual harassment victims, stepped down after the James report revealed that she had discussed with Tina Tchen, the chief executive of Time\u2019s Up, a letter about Ms. Boylan being drafted by Mr. Cuomo\u2019s aides. Although they contested the accusation that they had counseled Mr. Cuomo\u2019s team on smearing a victim, both Ms. Kaplan and Ms. Tchen recently stepped down from their roles.<\/p>\n
Mr. David had been a Cuomo aide for nine years when the Human Rights Campaign hired him in June 2019. In announcing Mr. David\u2019s appointment, the group highlighted his work with the former governor on major advances in L.G.B.T.Q. rights, including marriage equality and a ban on conversion therapy.<\/p>\n
The divisions between Mr. David\u2019s supporters and those who believed he crossed a line by helping Mr. Cuomo combat allegations of sexual harassment became even more apparent on Sunday, after Mr. David released his statement on Twitter. Along with saying that the review had been completed without any finding of wrongdoing, he said the co-chairs of the board \u201chave now asked me to consider resigning, not because of any wrongdoing, but because they feel the incident has been a \u2018distraction\u2019 for the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that their plan had been to \u201cresolve the matter quietly during this holiday weekend,\u201d adding: \u201cI have the support of too many of our employees, board members and stakeholders to walk away quietly into the night. I am not resigning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea that this is a distraction is simply not right,\u201d Mr. David said. \u201cI have not been distracted, nor have my H.R.C. colleagues who are fighting for human rights. The distraction would be calling for my resignation without providing the results of the review.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officials with the Human Rights Campaign then released a statement to their own staff saying that the review was not done and that Mr. David was mischaracterizing what had been relayed to him about the findings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were very surprised and disappointed by the inaccuracies in his portrayal of events,\u201d the two board chairs told their staff in an email. \u201cThat investigation will soon be completed,\u201d the statement said, and the organization \u201cwill then have more to say.\u201d The board chairs initially supported Mr. David remaining in his role, but when some staff members questioned whether he should leave, they hired the law firm Sidley Austin to conduct a review of his conduct.<\/p>\n
The person familiar with the board\u2019s decision said that there was no written report from that review, and that there was never going to be one. Rather, there were oral presentations to the board. Mr. David is said to have provided names to the board for people to be interviewed during the investigation, in addition to the 10 hours he spent being interviewed.<\/p>\n
In a separate email to staff sent on Monday night after the vote, the co-chairs of the board further addressed Mr. David\u2019s statements a day earlier. \u201cAt no time did we \u2014 the board chairs \u2014 tell him that there was no indication of wrongdoing, nor did we tell him we wanted this handled \u2018quietly,\u2019\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis decision was made by the full boards of both H.R.C. and H.R.C. Foundation because of Alphonso\u2019s own actions in support of Governor Cuomo,\u201d they added. \u201cHe alone bears responsibility for what he did and the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n