POUGHKEEPSIE – A former 16-year employee of the Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse (CPCA) in Poughkeepsie is suing her former employer, former Executive Director Kimberly Haight, and the Board of Directors of the CPCA in a claim of sexual harassment by a former coworker. The lawsuit was filed in January and can be viewed here.
The CPCA is a contract agency with Dutchess County whose mission is to “prevent child abuse in the Mid-Hudson Valley.”
The agency has been contracted by the county to provide supportive parenting, teen parenting, personal safety programs as well as administering the Child Advocacy Center in support of child victims of sex abuse or extreme physical abuse,” according to Dutchess County Comptroller Robin Lois who audited the agency and found several issues at the organization. The audit can be found here.
Christina Tuttle, in her lawsuit, claims that she was subjected to a pattern of sexual harassment by then-co-worker Nicholas Colon. Colon is no longer employed by the CPCA. Tuttle was Colon’s direct supervisor and claims that Haight was made aware of the harassment from Colon and did not take steps to stop the behavior.
Tuttle is suing former Executive Director Kimberly Haight because, according to Tuttle, Haight carried out “a subsequent crusade of retaliation” against her and the board of directors allowed Haight to do so unabated.
Tuttle says she told the board of her complaints regarding Colon in February of last year after Haight allegedly ignored previous complaints. When Haight learned of the conversation with the board, Tuttle says the retaliation increased. The plaintiff says Haight changed her schedule, failed to issue a pay raise despite coworkers receiving increases, and subjected her to additional scrutiny despite being aware of positive feedback from clients and colleagues.
Tuttle further claims that Haight’s behavior resulted in more than 21 CPCA employees leaving the organization since taking the reins in 2017.
CPCA Board President Eben Yager issued a statement to Mid-Hudson News, saying, “The agency’s focus is, and has been, the prevention of child abuse in the Mid-Hudson Valley, and providing training and support services to children and adults to stop the cycle of child abuse. We are also committed to ensuring that employees are treated fairly in the workplace. We have only recently been served with the lawsuit, and since it is pending in court, we are unable to comment about the specific allegations.”
On March 6, 2023, Dutchess County Comptroller Robin Lois released the findings of a follow-up audit of the CPCA conducted by her office. Lois issued a statement along with the findings, saying in part, “Most of the findings made in the 2021 report were a result of management deficiencies. Since then, there have been significant changes to the Board of Directors membership, including the departure of the managing Executive Director at the time of the original audit. Recommendations included understanding staff turnover issues, updating policies & procedures, implementing proper segregation of duties, increased Board oversight, stronger program monitoring, and strengthening of timely and accurate financial reporting.”
Pointing to the changes made at the CPCA, including the resignation of Haight, Lois also said, “The increased oversight and support of the new Board of Directors has greatly contributed to the implementation of our recommendations,” while adding, “The recent management changes have also resulted in an immediate improvement in workplace culture and employee morale which I hope will result in greater employee satisfaction and retention.”
The Comptroller’s latest report on the CPCA can be found by clicking here.
