Records: Wyandanch library spent $100G on ex-janitor Kwaisi McCorvey's salary, related legal fees since his rape arrest
The Wyandanch Public Library spent $100,068 on former janitor Kwaisi McCorvey's salary and legal fees connected to his disciplinary case and a civil lawsuit since his arrest on a rape charge last February, according to records Newsday obtained.
Details on the expenditures, which the library provided in response to Freedom of Information Law requests, show McCorvey took home $62,327 in salary before his March 4 firing — nearly six months after his guilty plea to rape and more than a year after his arrest.
Billing records as of last week showed McCorvey's termination hearing and related legal consultations cost $16,861 and the institution paid $20,880 in legal fees in connection with a civil lawsuit the rape victim filed last year against McCorvey and library officials.
McCorvey, 52, of Farmingdale, couldn't be reached for comment. The library's general counsel, Shawn Cullinane, defended the facility's handling of McCorvey's firing.
But some Wyandanch residents said library officials took too long to fire McCorvey and spent too much money on his salary and legal expenses in the meantime. A public policy expert said board members could have begun disciplinary proceedings against McCorvey as early as 2021.
A 2021 confidential memo showed McCorvey remained on the job at least 17 months after library officials learned he'd been accused of previously having sex with a minor at the library, Newsday reported last year.
In September 2021, a young woman had approached the library's director. Without giving her name or contact information, she alleged McCorvey had sexual encounters with her inside the facility when she was underage.
She was the same person McCorvey last year pleaded guilty to raping in North Amityville in 2016. She was 16 at the time of that crime. Newsday isn't identifying her because she is a sexual assault victim.
The library board suspended McCorvey with pay on Feb. 9, 2023, a week after his arrest. He remained on the payroll until the board voted to suspend him without pay effective Dec. 8.
Under Civil Service law, an employee only can be suspended without pay 30 days, Suffolk Cooperative Library System director Kevin Verbesey previously told Newsday.
Library officials put McCorvey back on the payroll in January, but then took him off again on Feb. 6 after he twice delayed a disciplinary hearing.
McCorvey asked to push back his hearing date twice and also had objected to particular library officials being involved in the proceeding, Cullinane said.
On Feb. 23, a hearing was held and the library's treasurer, serving as hearing officer, found McCorvey should be fired due to “misconduct as an employee of the library.” The board fired him at a meeting more than a week later from the job he held for more than 15 years.
Some Wyandanch residents said in interviews that McCorvey's firing should have happened much sooner.
“He pleaded guilty to the charges, they should have done something right then and there,” local resident and library patron Felice Holder, 63, said of the nearly six months that elapsed between McCorvey's conviction and firing.
Holder called the amount of money spent on McCorvey’s salary and the legal fees “ridiculous” and said the money could have been put to other uses.
“That’s wasting taxpayer money,” the Wyandanch resident added. “They could have taken the money that was spent on him and put it into the library.”
McCorvey was collecting a salary while on paid suspension for months as the library faced the threat of losing public funding for not meeting the state's minimum standards — putting the facility's registration in danger of suspension.
The state made the threat in October, saying the library was delinquent in meeting several standards. A state education spokesman said in a recent email the library is “making progress” toward those standards and state officials will meet regularly with library board members "to ensure successful compliance."
McCorvey, who collected a base pay of $65,494, had consistently been one of the library’s highest-paid employees due to overtime, earning as much as $158,000 a year, according to payroll records.
Wyandanch resident and library patron Helisse Palmore, 50, said she is happy the library board fired McCorvey but said “it took too long” to happen.
“Yes, he’s entitled to due process, but the thing is they took their time, there was no sense of urgency,” she said. “It’s just disgusting.”
Palmore said library officials could have taken action in 2021, when the confidential memo showed they knew about sexual misconduct allegations against McCorvey.
Records show that from the time of the memo until his arrest, McCorvey collected $123,694 in salary.
“Everything they did from February of last year when he was arrested till now could have been done when they were notified in 2021,” Palmore added.
Ken Girardin, research director of Empire Center for Public Policy, an Albany-based think tank, said the library could have started a disciplinary hearing in 2021 after the young woman came forward to the library's director.
“If someone says your employee, on the clock, did this, you can adjudicate that,” Girardin said, referring to Civil Service procedure. “They could have taken action right then and there.”
Police haven't charged McCorvey in connection with any alleged sexual assaults in the library. But in July, the victim McCorvey admitted to raping in North Amityville in 2016 filed a $30 million notice of claim against him and the library.
The claim alleged McCorvey had sexual encounters with her in the facility from 2016 to 2018 that started when she was 16. It also alleged half a dozen former and current library trustees knew, or should have known, about the abuse but failed to take action.
The plaintiff's attorney, Monte Malik Chandler, said he followed up the notice of claim by filing a lawsuit against the parties in September.
An August court order shows a judge sealed proceedings related to the civil matter at Chandler's request.
The attorney representing the library in the lawsuit, Peter Prisco of Melville, didn't respond to requests for comment.
Cullinane, the library's general counsel, said he could not speak to actions in 2021 before library officials hired him, but he defended the institution's process when it came to the timing of McCorvey's firing after his arrest.
“The library did what it could do as quickly as it could based on New York State Civil Service law," he said in a statement. "Like it or not, employees have certain rights, and we had to honor those rights and do the right procedure.”
Cullinane pointed to the board’s paid suspension of McCorvey a week after his arrest as evidence of swift action.
“That was the most critical thing,” the attorney said. “It wasn’t even about the money at that point. It was about protecting the library, the patrons of the library, especially the children … So if there was this situation of him being a threat to people, that was addressed immediately.”
Girardin said the part of Civil Service law outlining disciplinary procedures is “just as much a protection of taxpayers as it is of employees” and provides a fair and transparent process for the removal of employees.
“But it’s one of those things where you either have your foot on the gas or you don’t,” the public policy expert added. “And it sounds like in this case the library didn’t have its foot fully on the gas.”
The Wyandanch Public Library spent $100,068 on former janitor Kwaisi McCorvey's salary and legal fees connected to his disciplinary case and a civil lawsuit since his arrest on a rape charge last February, according to records Newsday obtained.
Details on the expenditures, which the library provided in response to Freedom of Information Law requests, show McCorvey took home $62,327 in salary before his March 4 firing — nearly six months after his guilty plea to rape and more than a year after his arrest.
Billing records as of last week showed McCorvey's termination hearing and related legal consultations cost $16,861 and the institution paid $20,880 in legal fees in connection with a civil lawsuit the rape victim filed last year against McCorvey and library officials.
McCorvey, 52, of Farmingdale, couldn't be reached for comment. The library's general counsel, Shawn Cullinane, defended the facility's handling of McCorvey's firing.
But some Wyandanch residents said library officials took too long to fire McCorvey and spent too much money on his salary and legal expenses in the meantime. A public policy expert said board members could have begun disciplinary proceedings against McCorvey as early as 2021.
On and off payroll
A 2021 confidential memo showed McCorvey remained on the job at least 17 months after library officials learned he'd been accused of previously having sex with a minor at the library, Newsday reported last year.
In September 2021, a young woman had approached the library's director. Without giving her name or contact information, she alleged McCorvey had sexual encounters with her inside the facility when she was underage.
Wyandanch Public Library, pictured here, spent $100,068 on the salary of ex-janitor Kwaisi McCorvey and legal fees related to his disciplinary case and a civil lawsuit since his rape arrest in February 2023. The library fired him March 4, nearly six months after his guilty plea to a felony rape charge. Credit: Tom Lambui
She was the same person McCorvey last year pleaded guilty to raping in North Amityville in 2016. She was 16 at the time of that crime. Newsday isn't identifying her because she is a sexual assault victim.
The library board suspended McCorvey with pay on Feb. 9, 2023, a week after his arrest. He remained on the payroll until the board voted to suspend him without pay effective Dec. 8.
Under Civil Service law, an employee only can be suspended without pay 30 days, Suffolk Cooperative Library System director Kevin Verbesey previously told Newsday.
Library officials put McCorvey back on the payroll in January, but then took him off again on Feb. 6 after he twice delayed a disciplinary hearing.
McCorvey asked to push back his hearing date twice and also had objected to particular library officials being involved in the proceeding, Cullinane said.
On Feb. 23, a hearing was held and the library's treasurer, serving as hearing officer, found McCorvey should be fired due to “misconduct as an employee of the library.” The board fired him at a meeting more than a week later from the job he held for more than 15 years.
'Wasting taxpayer money'
Some Wyandanch residents said in interviews that McCorvey's firing should have happened much sooner.
“He pleaded guilty to the charges, they should have done something right then and there,” local resident and library patron Felice Holder, 63, said of the nearly six months that elapsed between McCorvey's conviction and firing.
Holder called the amount of money spent on McCorvey’s salary and the legal fees “ridiculous” and said the money could have been put to other uses.
“That’s wasting taxpayer money,” the Wyandanch resident added. “They could have taken the money that was spent on him and put it into the library.”
McCorvey was collecting a salary while on paid suspension for months as the library faced the threat of losing public funding for not meeting the state's minimum standards — putting the facility's registration in danger of suspension.
The state made the threat in October, saying the library was delinquent in meeting several standards. A state education spokesman said in a recent email the library is “making progress” toward those standards and state officials will meet regularly with library board members "to ensure successful compliance."
McCorvey, who collected a base pay of $65,494, had consistently been one of the library’s highest-paid employees due to overtime, earning as much as $158,000 a year, according to payroll records.
Wyandanch resident and library patron Helisse Palmore, 50, said she is happy the library board fired McCorvey but said “it took too long” to happen.
“Yes, he’s entitled to due process, but the thing is they took their time, there was no sense of urgency,” she said. “It’s just disgusting.”
Palmore said library officials could have taken action in 2021, when the confidential memo showed they knew about sexual misconduct allegations against McCorvey.
Records show that from the time of the memo until his arrest, McCorvey collected $123,694 in salary.
“Everything they did from February of last year when he was arrested till now could have been done when they were notified in 2021,” Palmore added.
'Protecting the library'
Ken Girardin, research director of Empire Center for Public Policy, an Albany-based think tank, said the library could have started a disciplinary hearing in 2021 after the young woman came forward to the library's director.
“If someone says your employee, on the clock, did this, you can adjudicate that,” Girardin said, referring to Civil Service procedure. “They could have taken action right then and there.”
Police haven't charged McCorvey in connection with any alleged sexual assaults in the library. But in July, the victim McCorvey admitted to raping in North Amityville in 2016 filed a $30 million notice of claim against him and the library.
The claim alleged McCorvey had sexual encounters with her in the facility from 2016 to 2018 that started when she was 16. It also alleged half a dozen former and current library trustees knew, or should have known, about the abuse but failed to take action.
The plaintiff's attorney, Monte Malik Chandler, said he followed up the notice of claim by filing a lawsuit against the parties in September.
An August court order shows a judge sealed proceedings related to the civil matter at Chandler's request.
The attorney representing the library in the lawsuit, Peter Prisco of Melville, didn't respond to requests for comment.
Cullinane, the library's general counsel, said he could not speak to actions in 2021 before library officials hired him, but he defended the institution's process when it came to the timing of McCorvey's firing after his arrest.
“The library did what it could do as quickly as it could based on New York State Civil Service law," he said in a statement. "Like it or not, employees have certain rights, and we had to honor those rights and do the right procedure.”
Cullinane pointed to the board’s paid suspension of McCorvey a week after his arrest as evidence of swift action.
“That was the most critical thing,” the attorney said. “It wasn’t even about the money at that point. It was about protecting the library, the patrons of the library, especially the children … So if there was this situation of him being a threat to people, that was addressed immediately.”
Girardin said the part of Civil Service law outlining disciplinary procedures is “just as much a protection of taxpayers as it is of employees” and provides a fair and transparent process for the removal of employees.
“But it’s one of those things where you either have your foot on the gas or you don’t,” the public policy expert added. “And it sounds like in this case the library didn’t have its foot fully on the gas.”
WHAT TO KNOW
- Wyandanch Public Library spent $100,068 on ex-janitor Kwaisi McCorvey's salary and legal fees connected to his disciplinary case and a civil lawsuit since his rape arrest in February 2023.
- The library's attorney defended the handling of McCorvey's firing, which happened March 4.
- Some residents say it too the library too long to fire McCorvey and too much money was spent on his salary and related legal fees.
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
