The ex-con “overtime king” at the beleaguered Board of Elections cost taxpayers even more money when the agency settled a sexual-harassment complaint against him.
The discrimination claim against Alvin Samuels, which included allegations of retaliation, went before the state Division of Human Rights, according to the city Law Department.
The BOE agreed to settle on Aug. 1 for $22,500, according to the department.
The complaint involved an employee who was given a new job only to have it rescinded, she alleged when she refused to sleep with Samuels, the Democratic Manhattan office manager, according to a source familiar with the case.
Samuels denied that he coerced or threatened the woman for sexual favors, although he admitted having a brief consensual relationship with her, according to documents in the case which were seen by The Post. The BOE contended that the woman’s poor performance was to blame for her job transfer.
Samuels, 53, raked in $107,031 in overtime pay in 2020 — in addition to his salary of $106,627, records show.
The gravy train may have come to an end though.
Samuels was escorted from his BOE office Friday and placed on a two-week suspension, according to Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer for the union that represents Samuels.
Schwartz said he did not know the reason for the suspension, but it was not related to the sexual harassment allegations.
He joined the BOE in 1993 shortly after serving six years in state prison for his role in the 1984 armed robbery of a store clerk who was killed in the stickup, although Samuels was not the triggerman, according to state records and a published report.
He landed in the lockup again in 1997, pleading guilty to possession of a 9mm handgun and misdemeanor assault after beating up his girlfriend, also a Board of Elections employee, records show.
Samuels held on to the job and later, according to insiders, hired fellow felon Howard Prescod, who was released from prison in 2014 after serving 28 years for murder and robbery. Prescod worked at the agency as a temporary clerk in 2015 and was paid $25,272, records show.
A spokesman for the Board of Elections said the agency “does not comment on personnel or litigation matters.”
