Suffolk DA Chief Of Staff Accused Of Abusive Behavior

A law firm representing the former director of communications for the Suffolk County Police Department has announced a notice of claim that accuses the Suffolk County District Attorney’s chief of staff of abusing and misusing employees.

According to the claim, Donna Jannine Schultz alleges she was abused verbally and via text by Justin Meyers, spoke to senior SCPD employers about the situation and was fired by the Suffolk County executive’s office less than a month later.

The notice of claim was announced by the law office of Brendan Chao, Attorney & Counsellor at Law at a press conference on Thursday. The claim is the first step to a federal lawsuit that will be filed against Suffolk County, the Suffolk County executive’s office and Meyers.

Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said the notice of claim is untrue. “The Notice of Claim is frivolous and replete with untrue assertions, which will be made clear if and when any lawsuit is filed," he said in a statement to Patch. Patch also reached out to the Suffolk County Executive's Office for a statement.

Around Feb. 22, Meyers, who had previously served as the assistant commissioner for strategic communications with the SCPD and supervisor to Shultz but was then working at the DA's office, sent her a series of text messages that were released by the law firm. The messages included statements such as:

“When then you better have someone from your team get me a Facebook post to review in the next 35 fucking seconds bc if I have to call the police commissioner and district attorney back and explain to them the reason there is still not a Facebook post up from today’s massive announcement is bc Donna Jeannine thinks she calls the shots it’s not going to go very well for you.”

“If you do not call me in the next 60 seconds you’re going to get an extremely uncomfortable phone call from the commissioner.”

Schultz says she spoke to several senior SCPD employees explaining that Meyers was giving her orders, and his abusive behavior was “nothing new.” She also said he treated her and others in an unprofessional and abusive manner when he worked for SCPD, the claim states.

On March 15, Schultz met with Deputy County Executive Dennis Cohen and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s Chief of Staff Lisa Black. Cohen told Schultz she should resign from a position she held for the previous 21 months because she failed her background check due to a misdemeanor conviction from 10 years ago, according to the claim. Shultz said she disclosed her conviction to Meyers and other officials prior to her hire in June 2016. Cohen also said her use of a SCPD computer for personal use was also grounds for her resignation.

Meyers campaigned for Sini during his SCPD workday, the notice of claim alleges and he is also accused in the claim of using Suffolk County and SCPD employees for his personal errands while working on government time.

Schultz claims her 14th Amendment rights were violated. She looks to be reinstated her lost wages and be reinstated back an amount for mental pain and suffering.

Images via the law office of Brendan Chao, Attorney & Counsellor at Law