![\"ASPCA](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-05-22_13-02-15-612-e1747944176545.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNote: the actual ASPCA head office & animal shelter is nowhere near this spacious.<\/strong><\/em> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 NEW YORK CITY,\u00a0 New York\u2013\u2013<\/strong>Former American SPCA chief financial officer Gordon Lavalette during the second week in May 2025 sued the ASPCA in New Jersey state court for alleged wrongful dismissal,\u00a0 further alleging substantial ASPCA misuse of donated funds.<\/p>\n Detailed New York Post<\/em> Manhattan civil courts reporter Peter Senzamici on May 21,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 \u201cGordon Lavalette \u2014 who served as the ASPCA chief financial officer starting in 2021 \u2014 claims the longtime non-profit dished out hundreds of millions in \u2018illegal\u2019 no-bid contracts and ignored him flagging \u2018dangerous violations\u2019 of animal safety law,\u00a0 according to his suit.\u201d<\/p>\n The ASPCA,\u00a0 alleged Lavalette,\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cpreferred to violate the law as well as overspend millions of dollars with friendly vendors than to competitively bid those contracts and use the savings to help animals.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lavalette, 61, \u00a0\u201cwas sacked while he attended his daughter\u2019s wedding last week \u2014 all because he tried to blow the whistle on alleged unethical and illegal financial practices,\u201d\u00a0 Senzamici summarized.<\/p>\n Rather than acting appropriately in response to his charges,\u00a0 the Lavallette lawsuit says,\u00a0 senior ASPCA personnel \u201cacted in concert and aided one another\u2026to deliberately sabotage his good name, \u00a0his reputation, \u00a0his employment and his career.\u201d<\/p>\n Lavalette arrived at the ASPCA with a history of involvement in financial controversy at previous corporate posts,\u00a0 including during nine years with the New Jersey Devils professional hockey team and toward the end of a two-year stint as chief financial officer and executive vice president with the Ion Media television network.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Five years with the New York Racing Association followed.\u00a0 Inasmuch as horse racing is a major animal use industry,\u00a0 Lavalette brought an unusual background to his ASPCA position,\u00a0 but said he received \u201cglowing performance evaluations and high-level praise,\u201d \u00a0\u00a0and that chief executive Matt Bershadker once said he wished Lavalette would \u201cstay with the ASPCA for another decade,\u201d\u00a0 Senzamici wrote.<\/p>\n Be that as it may,\u00a0 IRS Form 990 filings indicate that Lavalette started at the ASPCA earning $251,000 per year,\u00a0 and left four years later making $426,000,\u00a0 indicating a history of receiving substantial annual raises.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2024,\u201d\u00a0 Senzamici\u00a0 recounted,\u00a0 \u201cLavalette claims he got a look at fundraising-related contracts, \u00a0and discovered \u2018reckless squandering of donor-contributed funds,\u2019\u00a0 the suit states.\u201d<\/p>\n Specifically,\u00a0 Lavalette claims the ASPCA spent at least $340 million on no-bid vendor contracts between 2016 and his departure,\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cjust under the ASPCA\u2019s entire annual revenue for 2023,\u00a0 tax forms show,\u201d\u00a0 Senzamici noted.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe ASPCA told The Post<\/em>, \u00a0Senzamici continued,\u00a0 \u201cthat Syzmanski\u2019s claims are \u2018baseless\u2019 and pledged to mount a \u2018vigorous\u2019 defense in the civil case.\u201d<\/p>\n Said the ASPCA in a prepared statement,\u00a0 \u201c\u201cOur Board of Directors took these matters seriously when they were first raised internally and engaged independent outside counsel to review them,\u201d concluding that \u201cOur policies and practices are appropriate,\u00a0 lawful,\u00a0 and consistent with our mission to protect animals.\u201d<\/p>\n Recounted Senzamici,\u00a0 \u201cAn email [included in the Lavalette filing] from last September claimed that an IT executive tried to steer a $2 million no-bid critical infrastructure contract to a vendor who was a \u2018friend.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Lavalette discovered the vendor was unqualified and demanded a bidding process take place, \u00a0\u2018IT again recommended the same conflicted and inappropriate vendor,\u2019 the email reads.<\/p>\n \u201cThat \u2018friend\u2019 then threatened to sue when not ultimately awarded the contract, \u00a0forcing the ASPCA to settle for $50,000, \u00a0the suit details.\u201d<\/p>\n The New York City head office & animal shelter of the ASPCA.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Lavalette lawsuit also says,\u00a0 Senzamici wrote,\u00a0 that ASPCA president Matt Bershadker \u201callegedly shot down Lavalette\u2019s attempt to ditch a leaky, \u00a0moldy Upper East Side animal shelter, \u00a0calling the effort \u2018a waste of time.\u201d<\/p>\n This allegation appears to refer to the cramped five-floor ASPCA head office and adoption center at 424 East 92nd Street, \u00a0New York City.<\/p>\n Built in 1990,\u00a0 424 East 92nd Street has been the only ASPCA animal shelter since the ASPCA gave up the New York City animal control contract in 1994,\u00a0 along with the animal control shelter.\u00a0 Most of the ASPCA administrative staff work from rented office space at 520 8th Avenue,\u00a0 about four miles south,\u00a0 near Times Square.<\/p>\n Other conflicts included Bershadker allegedly threatening to fire Lavalette after Lavalette took his concerns to the ASPCA board of directors,\u00a0 and Lavalette refusing to \u201cparticipate in an act of retaliation\u201d against another whistleblower.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe tipping point,\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0according to Senzamici,\u00a0 \u201ccame after Lavalette refused to sign off on what he said was a \u2018flawed\u2019 \u00a0routine audit that lacked critical information.\u201d<\/p>\n Bershadker then fired Lavalette on May 12,\u00a0 2025 \u201c\u2019so that the ASPCA could get a timely audit,\u2019 \u00a0the suit claims,\u201d\u00a0 Senzamici wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore his firing,\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Senzamici mentioned,\u00a0 \u201cLavalette claims he was booted from an internal safety committee after flagging animal transportation issues \u2014 including disconnecting a device logging driver hours from an ASPCA vehicle and a brake failure of a new, \u00a0untested trailer, \u00a0which almost caused a \u2018catastrophic\u2019 crash.\u201d<\/p>\n While describing different incidents,\u00a0 the Lavalette charges echo those revealed by ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong> in two 2020 reports,\u00a0 Why is the ASPCA stonewalling about the deaths of 20 dogs in transport?<\/strong><\/a> and How the ASPCA cooked 26 dogs in a truck: source comes forward<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The ASPCA pays president Matt Bershadker more than $1 million a year.<\/strong><\/em> ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong> has also long been skeptical and critical of ASPCA fiscal management under Bershadker,\u00a0 who was paid over $1.1 million in 2023,\u00a0 according to IRS Form 990:\u00a0 nearly twice as much as any other U.S. animal welfare executive.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (See How\u2013\u2013and why\u2013\u2013did the ASPCA make the HumaneWatch hit list?<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0 Why did the ASPCA pres get $966,004, while we got $9.70 an hour?<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0 and CBS News affirms ANIMALS 24-7 expos\u00e9s of ASPCA fundraising<\/a><\/em>.)<\/strong><\/p>\n Lavalette in October 2008 alleged on behalf of the New Jersey Devils that the Newark Housing Authority,\u00a0 owner of the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey where the Devils play their home games,\u00a0 that the Prudential Center lease owed the team $791,530,\u00a0 against the cost of rent,\u00a0 due to delays in completing the then-one-year-old arena and surrounding development.<\/p>\n
(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nFormer CFO accuses ASPCA of overspending on \u201cno-bid\u201d contracts<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nFired at daughter\u2019s wedding<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nFive years at New York Racing Association<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nASPCA pledges \u201cvigorous defense\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cLeaky, moldy animal shelter\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAnimal transportation issues<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nBershadker:\u00a0 paid over $1.1 million in 2023<\/h2>\n