Next to a March Announcement of Nancy Yao as inaugural director of the American Women’s History Museum, the Smithsonian Institution will examine allegations against Yao made by former employees during her tenure at Manhattan’s Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) and detailed in two settled lawsuits. As originally reported by the Washington Post Today, April 20, several former employees who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Yao was “tolerant of rude and sexually inappropriate behavior by male employees, of not taking appropriate action when complaints were brought to her reported and to retaliate against those who report allegations of harassment.
In a statement provided to Hyperallergic, a spokesperson for the Smithsonian Institution confirmed that it had “engaged a company” and is “immediately undertaking a more comprehensive review of the underlying facts and will reassess the situation once it is complete.” The spokesperson added that the Smithsonian Institution was aware of previous lawsuits against Yao and MOCA and that the claims had been dismissed by agreement of the parties.
The spokesperson was referring to the trial 2021 filed by former MOCA employee Joyce Huang on behalf of two female employees who were sexually harassed by a male supervisor and a male facility manager from time to time. Huang alleged that she and her husband were fired from their positions in 2019 at the museum in retaliation for speaking out about the sexual harassment the two employees, a college-age intern and a grant writing associate, had experienced.
According to the lawsuit, Huang and the intern’s supervisor, Director of Programs and Customer Experience Joseph Duong, and Facilities Manager Erwin Geronimo “frequently made inappropriate and sexually charged statements in front of women, both to employees and to visitors, in the workplace”. One such example is when Duong had sent the intern a text message saying “If I was a teenager, I would have already sent you a nude photo”, which the intern shared with Huang in or around January 2019. The intern also reported that Duong and Geronimo made suggestive comments about his mother when she visited the museum, and expressed discomfort when Duong intentionally scheduled her to close the museum or have evening shifts with him.
In late January 2019, Huang raised these concerns during an offsite meeting with MOCA’s human resources manager, Josh Davis, who apparently did not take notes during the meeting and did not file any documentation. investigation of complaints. Huang was later fired without warning because she “lacks professionalism and productivity and had poor judgment” on February 6, 2019, and believes it was in retaliation for raising these concerns.
Yao has denied all allegations of retaliation since the complaint was filed and maintains his position to this day, telling the Washington Post via text message that Huang and two other employees were terminated due to “severe budgetary pressures”.
Neither Yao nor MOCA responded to Hyperallergic requests for comments.
Huang reached a settlement in September 2021, six months after the lawsuit was filed. Two other former employees, Grayson Chin and Justin Onne, who separately filed wrongful termination lawsuits against Yao and MOCA, also reached settlements — Onne apparently agreed to a $55,000 settlement.
“We take these allegations seriously and want to ensure a fair and fuller review,” the Smithsonian Institution spokesperson said. It has been confirmed that the Mintz Group will conduct an external review of the charges against Yao and MOCA, after which the Smithsonian will “reassess the situation”. The Mintz Group has not yet responded to Hyperallergicrequest for comment.
In addition to accusations of wrongful termination in retaliation, Yao was criticized during her position at MOCA for agree to a $35 million “community giving fund” of the de Blasio administration in 2019 for supporting the expansion of Chinatown prison facilities to facilitate the closure of the Rikers Island Correctional Facility. Chinatown residents have also criticized Yao and MOCA’s connection to board member and luxury real estate developer Jonathan Chu, who was allegedly responsible for shutting down beloved dim sum restaurant Jing Fong. When Chinatown residents protested the reopening of the museum for Yao’s acceptance of the fund and for Chu’s involvement in closing Jing Fong, Yao allegedly accused elderly protesters who spoke English as a second language of get paid to picket.
New York-based activist group Youth Against Displacement recently wrote an op-ed for Hyperallergic“Nancy Yao will not fail,” in response to the Smithsonian’s nomination announcement.
“In MOCA’s announcement of the news, the museum thanked Yao for all she has done to put MOCA in a position to speak the ‘truths about what this has meant, now means and will mean, to being Chinese American,” Youth Against Displacement writes. “One has to wonder what kind of ‘Chinese American’ she was telling the truth about.”
