Markeshia Ricks File Photo
Former city youth director Jason Bartlett.
A state referee looked at the evidence — and decided that fired city youth chief Jason Bartlett deserves unemployment compensation.
The referee, Kathleen Pashos of the state Employment Security Appeals Division, issued the decision on May 22.
She overruled a previous decision that supported the Elicker Administration’s opposition to allowing Bartlett to receive unemployment benefits.
Former Mayor Toni Harp placed Bartlett on leave as city youth director on June 27, 2019, pending into an investigation into his work. Twice the investigation ended with a recommendation of firing Bartlett; Harp declined both times to fire him.
Then Mayor Justin Elicker took office. On Feb. 20, 2020, Elicker fired Bartlett for allegedly steering a city contract to a friend’s company to do work on the never-built Escape youth center.
Bartlett, arguing he was wrongly fired, filed for unemployment benefits. The Elicker administration argued to a hearing officer that Bartlett had been reasonably fired for “select[ing]” the friend, Maverick Jacobs, “as the contractor.” The hearing officer agreed and denied Bartlett the benefits.
In reviewing the evidence on appeal, Pashos noted that in fact Jacobs was never selected as contractor for the job. Bartlett had forwarded a public request for proposals To Jacobs. Jacobs did not end up bidding on the project. A different company did, and won the contract. (Jacobs was already doing some work on the Escape inder a separate contract.)
In the decision, Pashos noted that the employer needs to prove that the fired employee’s actions constituted “willful misconduct” under the law. The Elicker administration never did prove that point — and it failed to appear at an appeals hearing, Pashos wrote.
Pashos also cited “inconsistencies in the information provided to [Bartlett] regarding its investigations into workplace actions.”
Click here to read Pashos’s decision. Click here to read a previous article on this case.
Bartlett, meanwhile, has two complaints pending before the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities related to his firing.
“I’m relieved that I won,” Bartlett told the Independent Wednesday. “They created a narrative to suit his earlier call for my firing. But none of it was true. The unemployment referee was able to determine that by looking at the documents and ruled in my favor. This ruling will be helpful in both of my CHRO cases as we go forward.”
“The unemployment claim appeal will not affect Jason Bartlett’s termination with the City of New Haven,” stated mayoral spokesman Gage Frank.
The city has until June 12 to appeal this decision. Asked if an appeal is in the works, Frank replied, “We are currently reviewing our options.”