Outrage over petition calling for white head of NYC marathon to resign amid racism claims

A petition has been launched calling for the immediate resignation of the white CEO of the non-profit responsible for organizing the NYC Marathon amid claims of ‘institutional racism and oppression’ in the workplace.

So far, the petition demanding New York Road Runners (NYRR) CEO Michael Capiraso step down has been signed by 850 people.  

However, critics of the online document are calling the allegations ‘baseless’, and some are even insisting it is a smear campaign that ‘reeks of just piling on the BLM and #metoo movements without a stitch of supporting evidence.’ 

The appeal’s emergence comes just weeks after NYRR announced it would be laying off around 11 percent of its workforce and furloughing another 28 percent of staff, citing financial hardships brought by the on-going coronavirus pandemic. 

The author of the petition was reportedly initially listed as Michael Schnall, who, according to LinkedIn, is the Vice President of Government Relations and Community Investment at NYRR. His name previously appeared as the author when sharing the petition.  

Schnall was furloughed by NYRR on August 1. In a statement to DailyMail.com, he emphatically denied any involvement in the appeal.

‘I encourage everyone to speak up at our organization, but I did not play any role in organizing this petition.’ 

The petition was posted to Change.org last week on behalf of the group Rebuild NYRR, a coalition of current and past employees who say they’re ‘calling for the immediate resignation of Michael Capiraso, President and CEO of NYRR.’

‘We are also calling for the Board to commit to the implementation of policies that will level the playing field for all employees, especially those representing marginalized communities,’ the petition says.

According to Rebuild NYRR, employees have, ‘for years’, reported experiencing racism, bias and bullying that ‘goes unchecked’.

‘We want to create a healthy, equitable, and safe environment for ourselves and for our community,’ the group says.

‘We have been pushing for fairness and cultural competency for years only to have it fall on deaf ears. So today, we are turning to the public, our board of directors, the running community, supporters and allies to ask for your support’.

The petition then outlines 10 demands for the New York Road Runner’s board of directors.

Top of the group’s agenda is securing the resignation Capiraso, claiming the he ‘fosters toxic, discriminatory, and systemically racist work culture at NYRR.’

The group also called for an independent pay equity audit to address gaps in compensation based around gender and race; to restructure the company’s human resource department to foster ‘an anti-racist and anti-discriminatory workplace’; and for a new, external, president and CEO to be selected by a diverse search committee.

In an interview with Medium, one anonymous employee accused Capiraso of cultivating a reactionary culture that features a lack of transparency where employees fear retaliation if they come forward with any negative experiences.

Citing the growth of the New York City Marathon, the world’s largest race of its kind, the employee said NYRR has since lost sight of its original mission statement.

‘Capiraso has the growth and revenue numbers from the world’s largest marathon in his back pocket and uses that as a shield against accountability,’ the employee told Medium’s Justin Horneker.

Other employees told the website that the layoffs and furloughs, announced towards the end of July, disproportionately affected the organization’s minority employees. White contractors were allegedly then brought in to replace them.

Capiraso, meanwhile, was said to have earned a salary of $479,195 last year – $350,000 more than the typical salary of a non-profit CEO, which comes in at an average of $103,345. He did take a 20 percent pay cut in response to the pandemic, but employees say that’s not enough.

While the petition itself falls short of detailing specific instances to back up its claims of institutional racism at NYRR, the Rebuild NYRR group has set up an Instagram page where members can anonymously share their alleged experiences.

‘Black employees endure ridicule for their natural hair texture in the office,’ one anonymous post claimed. ‘One high level manager suggested to an employee that they chemically relax their hair to be professional.’

Another post said that ‘women of color, including myself, are readily referred to and written up as being ‘aggressive’, ‘not a team player’ or ‘does not collaborate well with others’ for being assertive and not always agreeing with everything presented to us.

‘White female counterparts’, meanwhile are allegedly ‘not reprimanded when they do not agree or are assertive.’

Other messages on the page claim that Hispanic employees were berated by fellow staff members for speaking in Spanish, and not English, in the office. Others were told they weren’t able to post about social justice issues on their personal social media pages.

One claimed that an employee was not allowed to ‘publicly say Jesse Owens was their favorite runner in history because it might offend neo-Nazis.’

Signers of the petition also detailed various alleged instances describing a toxic work culture or racial discrimination.

‘I was directly affected by their bully tactics,’ wrote Janet Cupo. ‘”A place for every pace” was our motto. It became a place – as long as you in a certain financial bracket, young, white, skinny and have blond hair. NO don’t stop with Michael. The Board and senior management must be held accountable.’

Rashsaan Chisolm added: ‘I’m signing, because I am an employee of the organization and it’s unfortunate that I have to say this, but none or the stories that Rebuild NYRR has brought to light is incongruent with my experience personally/professionally or with stories I am aware of at NYRR.’

NYRR has not yet responded to a DailyMail.com request for comment on the allegations, or the calls for Capiraso to resign.

While the petition seems to be garnering support from NYRR employees and members alike, with 859 signatures secured of its goal of 1,000, the drive is also drawing critics in equal measure.

In a running forum discussing the fallout, users criticized the petition for failing to outline specific instances to back up their claims of institutional racism, bias and bullying.

‘I’m sure it doesn’t help that NYRR laid off half of their employees when they have plenty of money that they are holding as investments. Lots of disgruntled employees and former employees,’ one wrote.

‘So…what are the specific complaints? Seems like a whole lot of “systemic this, institutional that” without any actual concrete examples,’ another added.

Other users said that in order to substantiate the claims, more evidence is needed than just Instagram posts from anonymous sources.

‘This reeks of just piling on the BLM and #metoo movements without a stitch of supporting evidence,’ blasted one commenter. ‘Are people surprised that an entity that hosts races that cannot host races for 10 months out of the year, which includes to race that funds everything (the NYC Marathon), had to lay off a lot of employees? Do these disgruntled former employees think that they still should have their jobs even though there is no work for them to do?’

Another said: ‘Critical race theory is seeping into all areas of society. Running is one of the most democratic activities imaginable, and this anonymous, juvenile slander needs to be stopped in its tracks. NO MORE!’

One user, who claimed to be a current employee, attempted to stem the building scepticism of the petition’s basis.

‘As a current NYRR employee, I will say that the concerns expressed on the Instagram account are shared by virtually the entirety of NYRR’s staff — those of us who were kept on as well as those who were let go.

‘Important to understand is that this is not a personal attack on Michael. He has many abilities as a leader and CEO that will be difficult to replace. However, it is clear that his leadership skill set does not include the ability to convey sensitivity and moral conviction to his staff, and he has repeatedly failed to set a precedent for accountability or transparency within the organization.’

But many pushed back on the apparent employee’s assurances.

‘You say it does not seem to be a personal attack. To me it comes across as very personal,’ one wrote in rebuttal. 

‘My impression was that whoever started the campaign wants us to believe Michael leads a racist organization. Now some want to argue the words “racist” and “hate” have been watered down to not have a lot of meaning, but it’s one of the most damning accusations you can throw at someone in today’s era. No right minded person wants to be a racist.’

A member of Rebuild NYRR could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.