Rest in Power, Miles Allard

LaDonna and Miles Allard, Guardians of Sacred Stone Village

Obituary for Miles Dennis Allard

Miles Dennis Allard left us to begin his journey to the spirit world on February 8, 2018, in Fort Yates, North Dakota. Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 AM, Thursday, February 15, 2018 at the AJ Agard Building, Fort Yates. Visitation will begin at 1:00 PM, followed by a Rosary/Prayer Service beginning at 2:00 PM, Wednesday, February 14, 2018 at DaWise-Perry Funeral Services, Mandan. A wake will then follow at the AJ Agard Building, Fort Yates.

He was born August 31, 1948, in Williston, North Dakota to Paul and Viola Allard. His early years were spent being raised and taught by his grandparents Ezra and Julianna Allard in Trenton, North Dakota. He attended grade school in Trenton, North Dakota while living with his grandparents and then started high school in Williston, North Dakota. He moved to Belcourt and completed high school in Belcourt, North Dakota while living with his father. Miles’ father had remarried in the interim to Joanne, who was a special woman in Miles’ life. 

He graduated from high school in 1966 and entered the relocation program. Relocation was a federal program to get Indian people off reservations and send them to urban areas, where it was thought they would become more integrated into mainstream American culture. He went to San Francisco for training in diesel mechanics, but was summoned by his country for the armed forces through the draft. When Miles received his draft notice, he immediately went to enlist in the United States Navy rather than allow the machinations of the government to determine his fate. He served proudly from 1968 to 1974, most of his duty being comprised of marine mechanics and service to a particular admiral. He was stationed primarily in Guam, spent a lot of time at sea, and was honorably discharged. His service time frame makes him a Vietnam-era veteran.
He returned from the service and made Williston his home. He married Janice Daniels and had two children, Nikola and Miles. He later had two children with Rhonda Wilkie, Paul and Jon. He eventually moved to Bismarck to work at Clark Equipment Company.

He would ultimately return to Belcourt, North Dakota, to attend the Turtle Mountain Community College. He had an interest in education, and later transferred to the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks in 1987. He would meet the love of his life at UND, LaDonna Brave Bull. LaDonna already had four children: William, Phillip, Freedom, and Prairie. Miles was able to cultivate a relationship with all of them. Miles and LaDonna were married in 1990 in Grand Forks in a traditional ceremony, and he spent the rest of his life married to his Boo-boo. Why he called her by that name is a personal story. Miles and LaDonna graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1990 and left Grand Forks to start their professional lives. Miles began his first teaching job in Belcourt, North Dakota. LaDonna’s daughter Prairie moved with Miles, while LaDonna established her professional career in Standing Rock. It was during this time that Prairie “Chicken” and Miles enjoyed a special relationship with his daughter, and they were very close.

Miles moved to Standing Rock and taught grade school at the public school in Fort Yates, and later the Standing Rock grant school until his retirement in 2016. He had a special relationship with the young children, always teaching and sometimes teasing with the children. Teasing is a native way of teaching, modifying behavior, and expressing affection. When he teased anyone, it was always good-natured and it was clear he was expressing his affection.

Miles was deeply involved with his traditional spirituality, and part of that was involvement in the Sun Dance. His brother Ambrose Little Ghost was instrumental in Miles’ spirituality, and they had a special relationship. He had many lifelong friends involved with the Sun Dance, some of them were: Danny and Patsey Seaboy, John Buckley, Elliott Ward, Matt Remle, and Rocky Shopbell. There were many others as well. As a traditional man, he was also known by other names. Among the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas, he was known as Chimino or Little Cat. Among the Lakota and Dakota people, he was known as Tasunka Yuja-Nanji or Man Stands With His Horse. He was an intelligent man, and spoke several languages. He spoke Mitchif, Lakota, French, and English.

He is survived by his wife LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, his mother Viola Tesoro, and brothers: Jamie (Candy) Tesoro, Williston, North Dakota; Ray (Sheri) Tesoro, Lolo, Montana, and Gerald (Wynne) Allard, Rolla, North Dakota. His sisters Lorie (Joe) Wilkie of Portage, Wisconsin, and Debra Allard, Grand Forks, North Dakota. His sons Miles Allard Jr., Johnstown, Colorado; Paul Allard, Mandan, North Dakota; Jon Allard, Minot, North Dakota; Eric Grey Cloud, Fort Yates, North Dakota; Ian Scotty Halsey, Fort Yates, North Dakota; Alex Schien of New York, and Shannon Metzger, Fargo, North Dakota. Daughters: Nikola Uskevicz, Bismarck, North Dakota; Prairie McLaughlin, Mahto, South Dakota, Miranda Young, Devils Lake, North Dakota; and Sky Cante Brave Bull, Fort Yates, North Dakota who Papa Miles raised from a baby. Finally, his many grandchildren: Jace, Jessa, Angelina, Skylah, Dakotah, Leszek, Latayus, Donnie, Joshua, Wakinya, Jakob, Philip, William, Myles, Dusty, Kimmela, Isabelle, Kaylee, Hepi, Waniya, Tate, and John. 
If anyone was left out, it was oversight and not maliciousness, Miles loved all his family members. He also leaves behind a special puppy, Dakota.

He was preceded in death by his parents Paul and Joanne Allard, brothers Merle Allard and Doug (Tiny) Allard, and sister Lolita (Sissy) Tesoro. Son Phillip Hurkes, His sister Marcella Rosie Buckley, Uncle Delano Dogskin, Hunka brother, Ambrose Little Ghost, 

Burial will take place at the Brave Bull family cemetery in rural Cannonball, North Dakota. This man will be missed.

-----'

Sincere convalescences to LaDonna and their family, Brenda Norrell, Censored News.

Flagstaff Valentine's Vigil for Nicole Joe, Diné Woman Murdered on Christmas

Valentine's Vigil to be Held for Nicole Joe, Diné Woman Murdered on Christmas

Contact: Sarafina Joe

Email: sarafinajoe@gmail.com
Censored News

Flagstaff Valentine's Vigil to be Held for Nicole Joe,
Diné Woman Murdered on Christmas

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A candle light vigil will be held on Valentine's Day, Wednesday, February 14, 2018 at 5:00pm at Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff for Nicole Joe. Nicole was murdered by her ex-boyfriend on Christmas Day, though her killer severely beat and left her outside for hours, he has only been charged with aggravated assault.

"She meant the word to me and her two children, everyone is devastated," stated Sarafina Joe, Nicole's sister, "The community must be aware of our sisters being ignored, our unsheltered relatives are being mistreated and they need to be heard, my sister dealt with that. In my eyes my sister is a survivor, she kept trying to turn her life around and he took that. I want justice for her, I feel like my sister is guiding me through this."

Nicole's family members and community supporters will speak at the vigil to raise awareness about the international movement for justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women.

In it's Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women, the U.S Department of Justice has reported that Indigenous women face murder rates more than 10 times the national average, that they are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault crimes compared to all other races, and one in three Indigenous women reports having been raped during her lifetime.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Homicide, murder is the 3rd leading cause of death among 10-24 years of age and the fifth leasing cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Native women between 25 and 34 years of age.

A 2010 Department of Justice study found that of over 2,000 women surveyed, 84 percent of Native American and Alaskan Native women have experienced violence, 56 percent have experienced sexual violence, and over 90 percent have experienced violence at the hands of a non-tribal member. (https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/249736.pdf)

What: Candle light vigil for Nicole Joe.
Unveiling of massive "red dress" banner in memory and support of all missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Participants are encouraged to dress for rain, bring their own candles, and wear red.

Who: Speakers will include Nicole Joe's family and community supporters.

Why: Nicole Joe's murderer has merely been charged with aggravated assault. We call on the community to support and stand up for all missing and murdered Indigenous women.

When: Valentine's Day, Wednesday, February 14, 2018 at 5:00pm.

Where: Heritage Square, located in downtown Flagstaff, Arizona

###

'South Dakota Recognizes Treaty of Ft. Laramie' by American Indian Genocide Museum

South Dakota Officially Recognizes the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868

Within the Definition of 'Discovery' is a Mandate for Genocide

By Steve Melendez, Paiute

President, American Indian Genocide Museum

Censored News

French translation by Christine Prat at:

http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=4431

The definition of "discovery" per Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition is: "International law, as the foundation for a claim of national ownership or sovereignty, discovery is the finding of a country, continent, or island previously unknown, or previously known only to its uncivilized inhabitants."

With this 1823 law, (Johnson v. M'Intosh), the Supreme Court institutionalized racial discrimination against the Indians. It guaranteed that the Indians would never win their treaty land back in a court of law. In America, not only is justice blind, it is crazier that a bat. The gist of this law says that Indians owned the land right up to the point that Columbus "discovered" it. This law deserves to be dragged from the vaults of America's Freemasonry past and made to stand in the light of day.

 Apparently South Dakotans have had enough of being witnesses to the historic injustices perpetrated  against Native Americans in their state. Too long had white America sat idly by and watched unjust laws that promote racism and instigate wars of genocide continue to happen. On January 25, 2018 the South Dakota Senate passed Senate Resolution 1 which confirmed "the legitimacy of, and South Dakota's support for, the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie"

Most South Dakotans know their history. Who can forget the seizure of the Homestake Gold Mine? As President Grant said at the time, "Gold has been discovered in the Black Hills, a portion of the Sioux reservation"?  Even this event would have been expunged from the history books had it not been for a new technology at the time---photography. The photographs have burned into American memory the images of the dead, piled high and about to be thrown into the mass grave at Wounded Knee.

What must never be forgotten by everyone are the laws that justify land grabbing . The tactics in the past the government used against other tribes with treaties must never be forgotten. Only in the light of past legal precedent can racist colonial law be understood. The chilling lesson to be learned is to never venture into the white man's court seeking treaty rights because you cannot win in a kangaroo court. All that has ever been gained by taking a treaty into the white man's court is not land rights but a tiny monetary settlement dangled in front of an impoverished people for their homeland.

The U.S. Government cited Johnson v. M'Intosh  in 2001 when giving their reason for ignoring the Treaty of Ruby Valley of 1863 with the Western Shoshone.

In 1955, when the Tee-Hit-Ton Indians of Alaska had their timber sold by the government to a logging company and clear-cut around their villages, the government also cited Johnson v. M'Intosh .  The Supreme Court chiseled this colonial law in stone when Justice Stanley Reed wrote the majority opinion which said in part:

"It leaves with Congress, where it belongs, the policy of Indian gratuities for the termination of Indian occupancy of Government-owned land rather than making compensation for its value a rigid constitutional principle."

"…After conquest (Indian tribes) were permitted to occupy portions of territory over which they had previously exercised sovereignty, as we use that term. This is not a property right but amounts to a right of occupancy which…may be terminated and…fully disposed of by the sovereign itself without any legally enforceable obligation to compensate the Indians…This position of the Indians has long been rationalized by the legal theory that discovery and conquest gave the conquerors sovereignty over and ownership of the lands thus obtained."

During World War II, Hitler had a policy of land seizure called "Lebenstrom"--living space.  He justified seizing other peoples lands because the German people needed living space.  Do you know where he got such an idea?  I will give you a hint.  He referred to those people already living in those lands as "natives".  Speaking of the Jews and the Slavs he once said, "The natives will be our Redskins".  This is a direct correlation between the Jewish Holocaust and genocide in America. Genocide began in Germany during World War II with an attitude of "Aryan" white supremacy.  Laws were made which literally took away the homes and lands of Jews and others who were not German. It was this same attitude that was painfully on display for all the world to see in 21^st Century  America.  At Standing Rock, Native Americans who had lived on the land from time immemorial were arrested as trespassers and labeled terrorists. Confrontations such as this in the past would have resulted in the Indians being expunged from the face of the earth and American memory had it not been for the advent of videography and social media.

 Apparently South Dakotans have had enough of being part of an American Dream that is an American nightmare for Native Americans.  Living under the rule of law is desirable but witnessing unjust laws that dispossess an entire people in Nazi-like fashion was just too much to bear.

Steve Melendez, Paiute

President, American Indian Genocide Museum

Website:http://www.aigenom.org

Copyright Steve Melendez

NY Attorney General Files Suit Against Weinstein Co. -- Remembering Blackfeet Actress Misty Upham

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

(UPDATE January 13, 2019) -- The father of murdered Blackfeet actress Misty Upham said evidence was stolen in the case of the rape of his daughter by a Weinstein executive.
Censored News asked Charles whether the family is involved in any of the ongoing lawsuits against Weinstein and Company.
Upham said, "Not at this time. We were approached by a legal firm in a class action law suit against Weinstein and Co. But they were interested in a particular dress that Misty kept that had incriminating DNA on it. This evidence would have bolstered their case but the dress was stolen from our storage unit in Los Angeles."
"We think Weinstein and Co had something to do with the theft but we can't prove it."

Charles said, "Misty's ordeal was not given much attention. Except for a brief reference by Ellen Page, the rape of my daughter by a Weinstein executive was never acknowledged by the MeToo movement."

"There are many indigenous women who experienced sexual predation but are invisible in today's society. Faceless, nameless victims abound and will never find justice. Thank you for your voice. Raising awareness is the best remedy for victims and the best tool to detour these crimes."

Previous article at Censored News(Feb. 12, 2018) The New York Attorney General has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Weinstein Company, to ensure victims of sexual assault will be compensated -- and sexual predators will not.

(Read Attorney's General's statement below.)

Charles Upham, father of Blackfeet actress Misty Upham, said she was raped by a Weinstein executive before she was found dead.
Charles Upham said Misty was raped at the Golden Globes in 2013, but feared the power of Harvey Weinstein. Misty was found dead at the bottom of a ravine on Muckleshoot land in Washington State, after being missing for 11 days in October of 2014.
Charles Upham wrote on Facebook:
"My daughter, Misty Upham, was a victim of rape by a Weinstein Executive in 2013 at the Golden Globe Awards. The rapist forced her into the men’s room and had his way while other men in formal wear cheered him on as if he were chugging a beer in a contest. As Misty made the walk of shame back to the event, the Exec was given high fives, bragging rights and another notch in his Weinstein Co. belt. What should have been an auspicious occasion for Misty turned into a nightmare of pain, humiliation, fear and anxiety? Her mom and I pleaded with her to press charges since she still has the torn green dress she wore (Photo Above) with the DNA all over it. Misty was afraid to pursue charges because she knew Harvey Weinstein could protect his constituency and ruin her existence. Misty’s experience with Harvey Weinstein left her with the impression that he was a powerful man with many influential connections and could make people disappear. Once while riding in a limo with Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Weinstein and his assistant, somewhere between Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah, the assistant interrupted Weinstein and Tarantino’s conversation in a matter of urgent business; at which point Harvey Weinstein ordered the driver to stop and subsequently kicked his assistant out of the car in the middle of no where during a snow storm amidst subzero temperatures. Misty commented, “What if he freezes to death?” Weinstein retorted “ Somebody will come along and pick him up!” How could anyone expect a sincere investigation when the Weinstein’s company commander and chief is also a perpetrator? Misty said to me 'Dad, every time a rape victim comes forward to get justice they become the cause of the matter!'"
Charles Upham's statement:
https://www.facebook.com/charles.upham.9/posts/10208399015972554
Born in 1982 in Kalispell, Montana, Misty was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her role in Frozen River.
Misty's acting career included her role in August: Osage County.

A.G. Schneiderman Files Civil Rights Lawsuit Against The Weinstein Companies, Harvey Weinstein, And Robert Weinstein

Four Month Investigation Reveals New and Egregious Examples of Sexual Misconduct By Harvey Weinstein and Repeated Violations of New York Law By Company Officials That Endangered Employees 

 AG’s Lawsuit Alleges Company Executives and Board Repeatedly Failed to Protect Employees From Then-CEO Harvey Weinstein’s Unrelenting Sexual Harassment, Intimidation, and Discrimination

AG Files Lawsuit to Ensure Victims Will Be Compensated, Employees Will Be Protected Moving Forward, and Parties Responsible For Egregious Misconduct Will Not Be Newly Empowered As Part of Any Future Sale 

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today filed suit against The Weinstein Company (“TWC”), Harvey Weinstein, and Robert Weinstein for egregious violations of New York’s civil rights, human rights, and business laws. The suit, filed today in New York County Supreme Court, includes new and extensive allegations about longtime company CEO Harvey Weinstein’s (“HW”) vicious and exploitative mistreatment of company employees. Today’s suit includes numerous employee-victim accounts of sexual harassment, intimidation, and other misconduct.

According to the Attorney General’s (“OAG”) lawsuit, despite many complaints to TWC’s human resources department and widespread knowledge across the company’s leadership of HW’s persistent misconduct, TWC executives and the Board repeatedly failed to take meaningful steps to protect company employees or curb HW’s misconduct.

“As alleged in our complaint, The Weinstein Company repeatedly broke New York law by failing to protect its employees from pervasive sexual harassment, intimidation, and discrimination,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Any sale of The Weinstein Company must ensure that victims will be compensated, employees will be protected going forward, and that neither perpetrators nor enablers will be unjustly enriched. Every New Yorker has a right to a workplace free of sexual harassment, intimidation, and fear.”

Today’s lawsuit is the result of an ongoing four month investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”). The investigation included interviews with multiple company employees, executives, and survivors of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct. The investigation also included an exhaustive review of company records and emails.

Specific examples of HW’s harassment, intimidation, assault, and a hostile work environment alleged in the complaint include, among many others:

• HW told several employees throughout the relevant time period that, in substance, “I will kill you,” “I will kill your family,” and “You don’t know what I can do,” or words to that effect. HW touted his connection to powerful political figures and asserted that he had contacts within the Secret Service that could take care of problems.
• At HW’s direction, “TWC employed one group of female employees whose primary job it was to accompany HW to events and to facilitate HW’s sexual conquests…These women were described by some witnesses as members of HW’s TWC “roster” or his “wing women.” One of the members of this entourage was flown from London to New York to teach HW’s assistants how to dress and smell more attractive to HW…”
• A second group of predominantly female employees served as his assistants. HW’s assistants were compelled to take various steps to further HW’s regular sexual activity, including by contacting “Friends of Harvey” and other prospective sexual partners via text message or phone at his direction and maintaining space on his calendar for sexual activity.
• A third group of predominantly female TWC employees– a group of female executives – also were forced to facilitate HW’s sexual conquests. These female employees’ job responsibilities should have been confined to using their expertise to help TWC produce films and television projects. Yet despite their skills and stated job responsibilities, HW required them to meet with prospective sexual conquests in order to facilitate HW’s sexual activity, and to follow through on HW’s promise of employment opportunities to women who met with HW’s favor. This compelled service demeaned and humiliated them, contributing to the hostile work environment.”
• As one [female] executive reported to TWC’s Human Resources department: “only female executives are put in these positions with actresses with whom HW has a ‘personal friendship,’ which to my understanding means he has either had or wants to have sexual relations with them. Female Weinstein employees are essentially used to facilitate his sexual conquests of vulnerable women who hope he will get them work.” TWC took no steps to investigate these allegations or to prevent future recurrence of such conduct.
• HW made quid pro quo offers or demands of sexual favors in exchange for career advancement at TWC, or to avoid adverse employment consequences at TWC.
• On one occasion in 2015, HW asked a female TWC employee to go to his hotel room at the end of the day to set up his phone and devices for the next day or some other alleged work reason (work that TWC employees referred to as “turndown service,” and that was generally assigned to female TWC employees). Upon her arrival at HW’s hotel room, HW appeared naked under a bathrobe and asked the employee for a massage. When the employee said no, HW cajoled, badgered, and insisted until she relented and, against her wishes, submitted to massaging him out of fear of employment-based retaliation by HW. The incident was reported to Human Resources and to executives and Board members of the company in November 2015, but TWC took no action to formally investigate the complaint, to protect employees from HW, or to prevent future recurrence of such conduct. 
• On other occasions in 2014 and 2015, HW exposed himself to a female employee and made her take dictation from him while he leered at her, naked on his bed. That same employee described how HW would insist that she sit next to him in the back seat of his chauffeured vehicle and would place his hand on her upper thigh and buttocks near her genitalia and rub her body without her consent. When she attempted to place bags or other barriers between them to make it harder for him to reach her, he moved the barriers or repositioned himself so that the unwelcome sexual contact could continue. This employee, and other TWC employees, believed that they would face adverse employment consequences unless they acquiesced to such demands.
• On one occasion, HW asserted that he might have to fire a female employee because his daughter (for whom the employee was providing assistance at HW’s direction) was angry with her, and he asked the employee what she was “prepared to do” to keep her job – a proposition that the female employee understood was a demand for quid pro quo sexual activity. The employee quit rather than submit to the demand for sex in exchange for continued employment.
• HW’s assistants were exposed to and required to facilitate HW’s sex life as a condition of employment. 
• HW required his assistants to schedule “personals” for sexual activity both during the workday and after work. Upon arranging a “personal,” assistants were required to clear or adjust any and all other scheduled plans which potentially conflicted with the “personal.”
• Assistants possessed copies of a document known as the “Bible,” an assistant-created guide to working for HW which was passed down through Assistants. The document sat in hard copy on several Assistants’ desks, and was accessible to and known to exist by some TWC executives. The Bible included information about HW’s likes and dislikes, and a list of his “friends” with directions for assistants on how to arrange HW’s extensive and frequent “personals.”
• HW’s drivers in both New York City and Los Angeles were required to keep condoms and erectile dysfunction injections in the car at all times, in order to provide them to HW as needed. 

Specific allegations of misconduct by company management include, among others: 

• On more than one occasion, upon forwarding a complaint or information about a complaint to the COO, the Human Resources Director was not involved in any investigation or resolution process. Based on documents obtained by the OAG to date, such matters were handled by the COO and other members of TWC senior management, as well as counsel retained to contact victims of misconduct. 
• On numerous occasions during the relevant time period, victims of HW’s misconduct complained to the Human Resources Director or to other TWC management about various aspects of the conduct described herein. On no occasion was HW subject to a formal investigation, nor to restrictions on his behavior or adverse employment consequences, as a result of any complaint.
• Evidence gathered during the course of the investigation reflects that the Human Resources Director was not empowered to take any steps address HW’s ongoing sexual harassment of female employees.
• On certain occasions when individuals did complain to Human Resources, those complaints were not treated confidentially and investigated. For example, on one occasion, an assistant to HW wrote an email to Human Resources complaining of certain misconduct by HW. Soon thereafter, the assistant, who had access to HW’s email account due to her role at TWC, saw that her complaint had been forwarded directly to HW via HW’s email account.
• On several occasions when TWC employees complained about serious misconduct by HW, TWC took steps to separate the employee from the company while securing an NDA that would prevent the employee from disclosing the misconduct to others or warning others about the misconduct.
• Robert Weinstein (“RW”), as co-owner, co-Chairman, and co-CEO, was responsible for maintaining a safe workplace, free of sexual harassment and other unlawful conduct. Yet instead of doing so, RW acquiesced in allowing HW to create a hostile work environment and engage in sexual misconduct that was known to him, or which he was responsible for preventing.
• RW also received by email in late 2014 and 2015, and was otherwise informed of, claims of repeated and persistent sexual harassment and misconduct, yet he took no measures to investigate further the claims of misconduct, to terminate HW’s employment, to restrict or prohibit HW from supervising women or having or seeking sexual contact with TWC employees or women seeking to do business with TWC, from having private meetings with employees or women seeking opportunities in hotel rooms or TWC office space, or any other concrete measure that may have prevented HW’s ongoing misconduct.
• In response to the information obtained from TWC management, independent Board members sought to obtain access to HW’s personnel file so that counsel representing the Board could use the personnel file and other information to evaluate whether the Board would recommend renewal of HW’s contract.  HW resisted the independent directors’ efforts to obtain a copy of his personnel file and otherwise investigate misconduct, on the purported grounds that the contents of the file would be leaked to the press if disclosed to the Board.  There was no basis for this claim; instead, HW sought to prevent access to his personnel file to avoid discovery of the extent of his own misconduct.  A majority of the Board refused to back the independent Directors’ efforts to obtain HW’s personnel file; thus, efforts that may have resulted in discovery of at least a portion of HW’s misconduct were not undertaken by the Board.
• HW’s contract extension also contained an unusual provision that effectively monetized, rather than prohibited, ongoing acts of sexual harassment and misconduct. In particular, it stated that, if TWC had to “make a payment to satisfy a claim that you [i.e., HW] have treated someone improperly in violation of the Company’s Code of Conduct,” he would face escalating financial penalties: $250,000 for the first such instance, “$500,000, for the second such instance, $750,000 for the third such instance, and $1,000,000 for each such additional instance.”
• This contract contained no provision for any penalties if HW personally covered the costs of any payments necessary to satisfy claims of improper treatment, and it provided for no adverse employment consequences in the event that one, two, three, or even four or more such payments had to be made by TWC and/or HW as a result of HW’s sexual harassment or misconduct. Thus, pursuant to HW’s employment contract, HW could continue engaging in sexual harassment and misconduct with impunity, provided that he paid the costs of any settlements and that he avoided disclosure of misconduct that might risk causing “serious harm to the company.” 

• Board minutes reflect that the Board ratified HW’s new employment contract unanimously. No future efforts were undertaken by the Board to investigate HW’s misconduct or TWC’s practices concerning that conduct until HW’s termination in October 2017.   

As detailed above, according to OAG’s investigation, none of the voluminous complaints filed with TWC Human Resources resulted in meaningful investigation or relief for victims, or consequences for HW. Instead, TWC Human Resources variously claimed there was “nothing” that could be done to address the misconduct; immediately informed HW of the complaint, thereby facilitating retaliation by HW against the complainant; or helped facilitate swift departure of the complainant from the company in connection with a settlement that contained an NDA at the direction of the HR Director’s superiors.

TWC’s culture of harassment and intimidation remained shrouded in secrecy because of HW’s and TWC’s practice of securing silence through Non-Disclosure Agreements (“NDAs”) that prohibited individuals from speaking about their experiences at TWC. In October 2017, Attorney General Schneiderman opened an investigation after initial reports regarding HW – using the Attorney General’s investigative authorities, including investigative subpoena power, to begin removing that shroud of secrecy.  

While the Attorney General’s investigation remains ongoing, OAG is bringing suit today to seek court intervention in light of its investigative findings to date and the reported imminent sale of TWC – which OAG has a substantive basis to believe would leave victims without adequate redress, including a lack of a sufficient victims compensation fund. OAG also believes that the proposed terms of the sale would allow the perpetrators or enablers of the misconduct to see a windfall, and allow top officials at TWC who share responsibility for the misconduct to serve in executive positions of the new entity – where they would again oversee the adjudication of HR complaints, including those of sexual harassment, intimidation, and assault.

Those who believe they were victims of or witnesses to the misconduct described in the complaint should call the Civil Rights Bureau hotline at 212-416-8250 or Civil.Rights@ag.ny.gov.

The Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office is committed to combating gender discrimination and sexual harassment faced by women across all industries. The Civil Rights Bureau encourages those who encounter such conduct to contact the office at 212-416-8250 or Civil.Rights@ag.ny.gov.

This case is being handled by Howard Master, Senior Enforcement Counsel, and by Anjana Samant, Assistant Attorney General, and Amanda Addision, volunteer Assistant Attorney General, in the Civil Rights Bureau and Investigator Lina Burgos. Lourdes Rosado is the Chief of the Civil Rights Bureau. The Civil Rights Bureau is part of the Division of Social Justice, which is led by Executive Deputy Attorney General Matthew Colangelo.