Amid Workplace Complaints, New York Road Runners Parts Ways With Its C.E.O.

According to two people with knowledge of the matter, the investigation is nearing its conclusion. The firm, Proskauer Rose, will deliver a report to the board of the organization. New York Road Runners has said it will keep the report confidential to protect the identities of people who cooperated with it.

Capiraso said he and the leadership of New York Road Runners had taken the complaints and concerns that current and former employees had raised “very seriously.”

“I understand what the board is saying, that they are making a decision after having listened to people,” Capiraso said in an interview. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have served New York Road Runners. While I was there we doubled our impact and doubled our revenue, and now I am looking forward to some other opportunities.”

During his tenure, revenues at New York Road Runners increased to more than $100 million from roughly $70 million with the help of new media and sponsorship deals and increased participation in high-profile large races like the marathon, which now registers some 50,000 participants. Two half marathons run by the Road Runners have some 25,000 participants each.

Like all sports organizations, New York Road Runners has been tested as never before by the pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the New York City Half Marathon, the Brooklyn Half Marathon and the New York City Marathon. The resulting financial losses led the organization to lay off or furlough 40 percent of its staff of 229.

Meanwhile, even before complaints were publicly aired in August, there were questions from employees internally about whether the organization had done all it could to create events and a workplace that looked like the city it served.

The killing of Ahmaud Arbery by two white men who accosted him in February while running in Georgia brought new attention to the dangers of “running while Black” and forced the country’s running organizations to speak out — many for the first time — about the need for the sport to be more diverse but many did not do so until months after the killing.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/sports/new-york-marathon-capiraso-diversity.html