Lori Zeno, the chief director and founding father of Queens Defenders, a serious nonprofit which signify indigent defendants, was positioned on pressured depart Friday morning and her husband was fired, sources accustomed to the sequence mentioned.
Zeno was barred from the nonprofit’s Queens Blvd. places of work and her husband, Rashad Ruhani, recognized as a senior authorized advocate, was fired, the sources mentioned.
Two different workers of the nonprofit, Teyana Reyes and Ureka Washington, have been additionally fired, the sources mentioned.
Queens District Legal professional Melinda Katz is pictured at Queens Felony Courtroom in Queens on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Shawn Inglima / New York Day by day Information)
The upheaval was first reported early Friday afternoon by the Queens Day by day Eagle.
Zeno didn’t reply to cellphone messages. Ruhani couldn’t be reached.
Final yr, Zeno was criticized by a union representing public defenders for firing two attorneys within the midst of a union election. The Affiliation of Authorized Support Attorneys referred to as it “heavy-handed union busting on the part of Ms. Zeno.”