TARC files half-million-dollar lawsuit against former executive director over sexual misconduct allegations

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The former director of Louisville's public transit system has been accused of fraud, malice and corruption in a lawsuit filed by his old employer.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Jefferson Circuit Court against former TARC director Ferdinand Risco Jr.

TARC is suing Risco for a half-million dollars.

The litigation concerns allegations of sexual misconduct made against Risco by at least three women while he was employed at TARC in various roles including the assistant executive director, the interim executive director and the executive director.

Risco resigned in February, after the allegations surfaced.

The lawsuit claims Risco targeted mostly black single mothers and traded high-dollar jobs and contracts for sex. It also alleges that he referred to what he called his "boom boom" room where wanted to have sex with TARC employees.

Three female victims -- identified as Victim A, Victim B and Victim C -- were all referenced in the lawsuit.

Beginning in Dec. 2017, Risco began harassing Victim A by regularly commenting on her appearance and sending her messages asking to meet him alone, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that he regularly asked her about the color of her undergarments and in one case exposed himself to her. It also said that he invited her to engage in sexual relations with him, making her upcoming promotion a condition of her response.

TARC ultimately paid out a settlement to Victim A for $120,000, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that Risco regularly sexually and racially harassed another woman, Victim B, over her "darker skin tone."

"Risco created a hostile work environment for Victim B, regularly referring to sexual matters in front of Victim B, and would refer to his 'boom boom' room where he wanted to have sex with TARC employees," the lawsuit states.

The woman referred to as Victim B eventually left TARC because of the harassment, the lawsuit states. TARC eventually paid her $160,000 in a settlement.

In the case of Victim C, the lawsuit accuses Risco of sexual assault. She was ultimately paid $250,000 in a TARC settlement.

"In regard to Risco's victims, Risco, in most cases, chose to target young African American females who were single mothers and financially dependent upon TARC and Risco for their wherewithal," the lawsuit states. "In that regard, upon information and belief, Risco targeted women for victimization who would not likely report his abuse."

The lawsuit also accuses Risco using his role at TARC to a arrange employment, via a no-bid contract, for a woman with whom he was in a sexual relationship.

"The Contractor provided little to no services on behalf of TARC, but Risco arranged to have the Contractor paid more than $228,000.00 during a one-year period," the lawsuits states.

In fact, the lawsuit claims, that contractor was already under investigation for financial impropriety, when she was hired.

"This arrangement was not memorialized and violated several of TARC's internal procurement policies on responsible contractors, bidding and awards," the lawsuit states. "In addition to being financially insolvent, liable for tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid federal taxes, and already named in an investigation in another municipal entity's investigations in fraudulent billing practices, Contractor was hired at the insistence and direction of Risco."

In Oct. 2019, Risco "misrepresented" the contractor's skills and abilities to the TARC board, according to the lawsuit, obtaining an additional $336,000 contract for her.

"Risco did not disclose to the TARC Board that he was having sex with Contractor when he secured her Contract," the lawsuit states.

Risco was confronted with the harassment claims in February and subsequently resigned his position. Since then, TARC says he has refused to cooperate with his investigation, telling investigators that he has "put the matter behind him" and could not be "bothered" by the investigation. TARC has since paid a more than half a million dollars in settlements to his alleged victims.

The lawsuit by TARC accuses Risco of fraud and misrepresentation, and seeks to recover those funds.

Lawsuits represent only one side of a story.

Shortly after this story was posted, TARC's co-executive directors, Laura M. Dourglas and Margaret Handmaker, issued a joint statement calling Risco's alleged actions "very serious and damaging" and pledging to take aggressive action to prevent similar actions in the future.

The full text of the statement is below:

"Since we came to TARC, one of the primary focuses we and the Board had was to address the trauma caused by Ferdinand Risco. When these victims came forward at the end of January 2020, they exposed Risco's wrongs and helped the Board and the City end his tenure at TARC and his presence in our community. The settlements with these sexual harassment victims were reached quickly, but represent months of work and the firm desire that these women, victimized by Risco, not be put through a lengthy litigation process. They and their families should be allowed to heal and not be victimized again. We have made an unyielding commitment to them to protect their privacy. We will not discuss the specifics of their cases.

We can say that the claims these sexual harassment victims raised against Risco were very serious and damaging. Risco's actions do not represent TARC's 46-year history with this community. Together with the Board, we have made significant changes to our organizational structure, our reporting mechanisms, and the access our employees have to report abuses. We have also hired subject matter experts in the field of harassment and abuse prevention. We have taken significant steps to ensure that something like Risco's harassment will never happen again. But that doesn't make the harm caused by Risco any less real.

TARC will aggressively pursue Ferdinand Risco for his conduct. We will not comment further on the matter as it regards pending litigation but expect additional announcements in the near future."

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