A scathing whistleblower letter accusing top officials of New York City's powerful hotel workers union of accepting luxury gifts from hotel management in exchange for favorable treatment has been corroborated by multiple sources with direct knowledge of the union's inner workings — raising serious questions about whether the leadership of one of New York's most politically influential labor organizations violated its fiduciary duties and possibly federal law.
The letter, reviewed by Fox News Digital, targets the New York Hotel Trades Council and UNITE HERE Local 6 — a union representing roughly 40,000 hotel workers across the five boroughs — and names its president, Richard Maroko, as a central figure in the alleged misconduct. The letter claims Maroko personally participated in or directed the misappropriation of millions of dollars in retail income and allowed union officers to accept hotel rooms, top-shelf liquor, gourmet food, and electronics from hotel industry executives in a systematic quid pro quo arrangement. Among those allegedly involved on the hotel side: former Highgate labor executive Robert Lafferty and former Hyatt labor executive Michael Grosso. Both Highgate and Hyatt deny the allegations. The union has commissioned two internal investigations by outside counsel — including one by a former Southern District of New York public corruption chief — both of which found the claims unsubstantiated.
"For 25 years there was a standard that was really adhered to. The past five years when the new president came in, that was completely tossed." — Source with decades of experience working with the union
The key corroboration Fox News Digital obtained goes beyond the whistleblower letter itself. Multiple sources with firsthand knowledge of day-to-day operations inside the union's 8th Avenue headquarters confirmed that the culture under Maroko — who became president in fall 2020 — shifted markedly from the stricter standards his predecessor enforced. One source with decades of experience in the organization told Fox News Digital that the prior president was disciplined about gift-giving rules and that the rules were simply not important to Maroko when brought to his attention. The Hotel Association of New York City has separately retained former federal prosecutor Brendan McGuire to conduct its own independent investigation into the allegations.
The union denies all wrongdoing. Spokesman Austin Shafran told Fox News Digital that two exhaustive independent investigations found the claims frivolous, lacking any factual basis, and designed to derail contract negotiations. He noted that the union recently secured what it describes as its best contract in history, delivering major wage increases and benefits for tens of thousands of hotel workers. Whether that outcome validates the leadership or simply reflects the union's market leverage regardless of how its officials conduct themselves behind closed doors remains an open question.
The New York Hotel Trades Council is one of the most politically powerful labor organizations in New York City, with deep ties to Democratic Party leadership at the city and state level. UNITE HERE Local 6 represents workers at dozens of major Manhattan hotels. Federal law — specifically the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act — imposes fiduciary obligations on union officials and prohibits certain forms of self-dealing and acceptance of payments from employers. Violations can result in federal criminal charges.
The workers represented by the Hotel Trades Council — housekeepers, doormen, bellhops, kitchen staff — deserve union leadership that fights for their interests exclusively, not officials who accept luxury hotel stays and top-shelf liquor from the very employers sitting across the bargaining table. Two internal investigations commissioned by the union itself may not be the most reliable mechanism for determining whether the union's own leaders are corrupt. The involvement of a former federal public corruption prosecutor, hired by the hotel industry's trade association, suggests the scrutiny on this case is far from finished.