NEW YORK, NY (July 7, 2026) — The New York City Department of Transportation settled a discrimination and retaliation complaint filed by a former employee against his one-time supervisor for $30,000, according to records released by the agency this week in response to a Freedom of Information Law request.
Adam Salgado, who served as DOT’s Director of Grants Management from May 2010 to December 2012, filed a complaint with the New York City Commission on Human Rights on Sept. 18, 2013, naming DOT along with Joseph Jarrin, Ann Williams, Paul Stanton and May Ling as respondents. The complaint, Case No. M-E-SOD-13-1029142-E, alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York City Human Rights Law.
Jarrin served as DOT’s deputy commissioner for finance, contracting and program management from 2007 to 2016 and was Salgado’s supervisor during the period in question, according to the settlement documents.
The case was resolved through a settlement agreement executed in January 2018, more than four years after the complaint was filed. Salgado signed the agreement Jan. 19, 2018, and DOT Senior Counsel David Fenichel signed on behalf of the city Jan. 24, 2018. By that time, Salgado had left city employment for a position with the City of New Rochelle.
Under the terms, the city agreed to pay Salgado $30,000, inclusive of attorney’s fees, costs and disbursements. The respondents denied all liability, and the agreement states it does not constitute an admission of fault by the city or any individual named.
Salgado agreed to withdraw the CCHR complaint and released the city, DOT and all named and unnamed officials and employees from further claims related to the allegations. A separate affidavit signed the same month confirmed Salgado had no outstanding bills or liens with the city at the time of the settlement.
The settlement agreement describes the allegations only as “discrimination and retaliation” and does not detail the underlying conduct.
Records obtained after two-year FOIL delay
Talk of the Sound filed a Freedom of Information Law request with DOT on June 23, 2024, seeking records related to Salgado. The agency did not respond substantively for six months. On Dec. 24, 2024, DOT sent an email stating the request lacked sufficient specificity and asking that additional information be sent to an address that was not included in the message. Talk of the Sound narrowed the request that day to records concerning Salgado’s separation from DOT and his complaint against the city.
DOT closed the request July 7, 2026 — two years and 14 days after it was filed. The agency said the request was granted in part and denied in part. Some records, including the settlement agreement, were released. The remainder was withheld under state Public Officers Law sections 87(2)(b) and 89(2)(b), which cover unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. DOT’s notice did not specify what records were withheld or whose privacy interest was being protected.
This delay is not unusual. New York City agencies routinely fail to meet statutory FOIL deadlines, often taking months — and sometimes over a year — to respond to even straightforward public records requests. According to a 2025 Reinvent Albany analysis of the city’s OpenRecords portal, 16% of FOIL requests filed in 2024 were still open a full year later, making it the second-slowest year on record, while 19% of requests filed in 2023 remained unresolved after 12 months.”l
What the records corroborate
The FOIL production corroborates key elements of Talk of the Sound’s prior reporting on the Salgado-Jarrin dispute, including that Salgado filed a formal complaint against Jarrin, his former DOT supervisor; that the complaint was resolved through a monetary settlement; and that Jarrin served in a supervisory capacity over Salgado during the relevant employment period (2010-2012). The settlement documents also confirm the case was filed with the New York City Commission on Human Rights and alleged violations of Title VII and the NYC Human Rights Law, consistent with this publication’s earlier characterization of the dispute as a discrimination-related legal action. One discrepancy: the settlement amount is documented as $30,000, half the $60,000 previously reported. The records also surface gaps not previously addressed in this publication’s reporting: roughly nine months between Salgado’s December 2012 departure from DOT and his September 2013 CCHR filing, and the settlement’s execution in January 2018 — more than four years after the complaint was filed, by which time Salgado was employed by the City of New Rochelle. Separately, LinkedIn records show a roughly 20-month gap in Salgado’s resume between his December 2012 departure from DOT and his next listed position in August 2014 — a period during which this publication previously reported he was arrested, with the case resolved through an outcome that led to the record being expunged.
What the records do not confirm
The FOIL response does not confirm several elements of this publication’s relevant prior reporting. It does not corroborate the specific characterization of the underlying conduct as sexual harassment — the settlement documents describe the allegations only as “discrimination and retaliation.” It does not confirm the previously reported $60,000 settlement figure, nor does it explain the discrepancy with the documented $30,000 amount. It does not corroborate reporting regarding a nude photograph allegedly submitted as evidence in Salgado’s complaint — none of that appears in these records. Nor does DOT’s privacy-based denial specify which records were withheld or whose privacy interest — Salgado’s, Jarrin’s, or another party’s — the exemption is intended to protect.
Pending litigation
In August 2025, Warren and Salgado filed a defamation complaint against Cox, Talk of the Sound, and Words in Edgewise in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking $250,000 each over statements published between October 2024 and January 2025. Separately, Cox has filed a copyright infringement claim, Cox v. Loomba, in the same court, alleging Loomba shared paywalled Words in Edgewise articles with Warren and Salgado and lawyers in his firm — the same articles cited in the Warren-Salgado defamation complaint — without authorization.
Talk of the Sound is filing an appeal of DOT’s partial denial.
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This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
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