Employees in the Connecticut attorney general’s office complained about former Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) employee and whistleblower Adam Osmond while working on behalf of DECD in complaints Osmond brought to the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO), emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request reveal. Records show they also asked for personal information, like date of birth and social security number, to search for liens against Osmond.
“Really don’t want emails from this a__h___. He is a pistol. Maybe in the future we’ll just mail stuff to OPH.” paralegal specialist Leonard Auster wrote in a July 15, 2016, email to Colleen Valentine, an assistant attorney general.
Auster was referring to the CHRO’s Office of Public Hearings (OPH), which manages the public hearings processes in contested discrimination cases and in certain whistleblower retaliation cases.
Auster’s email was sent after Osmond emailed OPH, objecting to a motion Valentine filed giving notice of her appearance and asking for an extension of time to file an answer to Osmond’s whistleblower retaliation case. The email was sent on Valentine’s behalf by Auster.
Osmond has a long history of state employment, including working for the Department of Public Health between 2000 and 2003, the Department of Children and Families between 2004 and 2010, the Department of Social Services in 2012, and with DECD beginning in 2013.
Records indicate Osmond had a good track record for most of that time period, earning excellent service ratings at DCF and DECD.
But during an annual service rating covering the 2015-2016 year, Osmond’s service was downgraded to “fair” for quantity of work and dependability. That rating came after Osmond ‘blew the whistle’ on alleged financial irregularities he witnessed at DECD related to the department’s handling of loans and loan processing fees to DECD management. When DECD took no action, he reported the alleged irregularities to the auditors of public accounts. A March 2020 report substantiated findings of financial irregularity.
Osmond filed a whistleblower retaliation complaint against DECD, alleging the downgrade in his service rating was retaliation for reporting the allegations of financial misconduct with CHRO in 2016. It was the first of several complaints he would file against the agency. CHRO ultimately dismissed the complaint, finding Osmond hadn’t provided enough evidence of retaliation.
Valentine represented DECD in several whistleblower retaliation complaints Osmond filed with CHRO, including the 2016 complaint.
In another email Osmond obtained through FOIA, Auster asks Lisa Bakanas, DECD’s general counsel, for Osmond’s date of birth and social security number.
“Need it for an inquiry regarding any liens against him.” Auster wrote in an email sent on January 12, 2018, when Osmond had another whistleblower retaliation complaint pending with CHRO.
Bakanas informed Auster that Osmond had transferred to working at the Department of Housing.
Auster then wrote to Valentine, asking if she was aware Osmond had been hired by DOH.
“Unbelievable that people keep on hiring this guy.” Auster wrote.
“Yes. But it’s a durational position. He gave up a permanent position to take it. So when the duration ends he will probably sue.” Valentine responded.
“:) that’s a smiley. Unbelievable. And we wonder why state agencies are so stupid.” Auster wrote back.
The emails, which included a search for references to his name, also include an inquiry into whether Osmond had any outstanding child support liens from the attorney general’s office. They found no lien.
In another email sent May 19, 2023, Valentine writes, “I have been at a softball game all evening and now I have to finish discovery in my stupid Adam Osmond public hearing.”
CHRO did find in 2022 that DECD likely discriminated against Osmond when he applied for and was denied a position of supervising accountant which was advertised as open to all state employees. Osmond was denied an interview. DECD alleged this was because he did not have the qualifications for the job, but CHRO found he did and there was reasonable cause to believe Osmond was discriminated against on the basis of his sex, his past whistleblower complaints against DECD, and a 2010 criminal conviction for misdemeanor larceny related to a past addiction to lottery tickets. That conviction has since been expunged.
OPH also issued a ruling in 2024 finding that DECD likely discriminated against Osmond in denying him a job interview after he became a whistleblower.
Osmond obtained the emails, which were sent between 2016 and 2023, from a FOIA request he filed with the attorney general’s office in June 2023 seeking emails and other documents from the attorney general’s office and several other agencies that mentioned him or the cases he had filed.
The attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment about whether it has rules for employee conduct in email communication or whether the individuals involved had been disciplined for the language used in the emails.
According to state payroll data, Auster left the attorney general’s office in 2019 and Bakanas left DECD in 2022. Valentine is still employed as an assistant attorney general.
Osmond told Inside Investigator that he believed the emails he obtained “show conduct that is deeply troubling and not related to any legitimate work purpose.”
“Staff refer to me in derogatory terms, including calling me an “asshole,” and describing me as “a pistol,” simply because I objected to delays in my case. I now have a case pending at CHRO for more than five years. The correspondence also shows AG employees requested information from my DECD and DAS personnel files without my knowledge or consent, obtained my Social Security number, and shared it with others through unsecured email. This appears to have been done because I filed a whistleblower and CHRO complaint against DECD. Using my private information to dig for dirt is unacceptable and should be investigated.” Osmond said. “This story is about more than one employee. It is about the lengths the AG will go to, including violating privacy rights and digging into personal family matters, to retaliate against those who file a whistleblower and speak up.”
Osmond has another whistleblower retaliation complaint against the attorney general’s office pending at CHRO. CHRO rejected a motion by the attorney general’s office to dismiss the complaint and is investigating it.
The FOIC recently voted in Osmond’s favor in a separate complaint involving an attempt by the attorney general’s office to charge him a $2,000 retainer for the costs of searching for records responsive to a separate FOIA request. This is one of several cases brought before the FOIC recently involving state agency attempts to charge requesters for time spent reviewing documents, which the FOIC has ruled numerous times is not allowed under FOIA and is part of a state agency’s responsibility to fulfill the law. The FOIC ruled in Osmond’s favor in a separate fee case involving DECD. The agency, being represented by the attorney general’s office, has since appealed the FOIC ruling.
Was this article helpful?
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
Great story. When will you cover what illegally occurred to people labeled autistic and meeself?
Eye am tha otherside of tha Timesup and MeToo movements.
check out me legal GoFundMe page.
(https://www.gofundme.com/f/men-are-part-of-the-times-up-movement?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-3).
all true and very very sad
Great insight into how the Office of the Attorney General perceives the State Agencies it is tasked with protecting. But now I am curious as to how much actual time Connecticut’s Attorney General and his army of minions spend “wondering why state agencies are stupid” when a study comprised of working group, subcommittees & ad-hocs needs to be launched asap. I was under the impression that some state agencies employ some highly intelligent, competent individuals. But it seems the AG’s Office feels differently. Go figure.
I know this is going to sound totally crazy, but is it possible that the Office of Attorney General for the State of Connecticut is overrun with total fkn assholes? Because they seem like real assholes.
Great story. Thanks for keeping it real, Katherine Revello.
Bryant, I wanted to comment on this story, but I, honestly, couldn’t get the right words to flow….Your 2nd paragraph speaks exactly how I feel…the AG’s office IS overrun with A-holes. Run by a flagrantly bipartisan hack.
Margaret—I appreciate you:)
God agrees and Satan is teaching these corrupt Connecticut state workers to remain corrupt. Amen for Trump
Keep doing a great job because journalism that is truthful, is missing in society
When I filed my federal lawsuit against the CT Chief State’s Attorney (John Bailey, Jr.), I had to hire a private attorney. The CT AG’s office, which is responsible for protecting whistleblowers, never once contacted me to offer assistance, even though their attorneys were representing the chief state’s attorney for months — before, during, and after the jury trial, and through his appeal process. AG Blumenthal even approved the Chief State’s Attorney hiring private counsel, at taxpayer expense of course. While I was spending tens of thousands of dollars and using my vacation time to bring this to trial, Mr. Bailey never spent a dime or had to use any personal time, despite the fact the jury found against him. My book, “The Thin Blue Lie: An Honest Cop vs. The FBI” describes the entire ordeal.