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Speaking at the state’s Crime Victims Memorial Thursday, April 28, Inspector General Lucy Lang said when the victim reached out for help, “it fell on deaf ears.”
The woman, an employee with the state Office of Information Technology Services in Albany, was killed in September 2020 by her husband, a former worker at the state Office of General Services, before he took his own life, Lang said.
According to the OIG investigation, the woman had informed her superiors that she was the victim of domestic violence and was using her state-issued cell phone to document the abuse.
“Despite this information, and the agencies’ awareness that the wife had reported that she was a victim of domestic violence, senior employees in the Labor Relations and Legal Departments failed to respond appropriately,” the agency said.
Nearly a year later, both husband and wife were found dead inside their home.
Lang blamed the apparent breakdown in protocol on what she called a lack of agency knowledge among OGS and ITS senior employees, and a gap in staff’s understanding of the unique traumas associated with domestic violence.
“As seen here, even the best policies are only as good as the quality of their implementation,” Lang said.
The inspector general’s report includes a series of recommended changes in how all state agencies handle domestic violence cases going forward. They include:
- Requiring staff to read and verify that they understand their agencies’ domestic violence policy
- Thorough training on domestic violence policy for every new hire during the onboarding process and ongoing training for all employees
- Educating staff about the impacts of trauma and encouraging staff to take a trauma-informed approach to supporting anyone who identifies as a survivor of domestic violence
Lang also announced a comprehensive audit of all state executive branch agencies that will gauge compliance with domestic violence and workplace mandates.
Those findings will be shared with the state's Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, which will work with agencies to ensure compliance and provide training and resources, Lang said.
“I am here to say to this family still in mourning, New York State grieves alongside you and commits to making the change necessary to offer support to others who are suffering,” Lang said.
"And to all victims of domestic violence, I say that you do not have to suffer in silence. To New Yorkers suffering from abuse in the home, you do not have to struggle alone."
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