District of Columbia
D.C. lawsuit claims AARP Services illegally fired gay man
Five-year-old case set for February 2024 trial
A gay former manager for the D.C.-based AARP Services, Inc., an arm of the AARP that interacts with businesses supportive of the nation’s seniors, filed a little-noticed lawsuit in May 2018 charging AARP Services with firing him because he’s gay and married to a man.
Richard A. Deus, Jr., who worked for AARP and AARP Services for 11 years and held the title of director of program management at the time of his termination in February 2018, charges in his lawsuit that AARP officials falsely accused him of accepting gifts for travel from businesses affiliated with AARP that violated AARP employee ethics policies.
The lawsuit says AARP Services cited these alleged violations as the reason for its decision to fire him.
But, according to a 26-page amended complaint filed by Deus’s attorney in D.C. Superior Court, Deus sought and received permission from his supervisor and an official with the AARP’s general counsel’s office to take two separate trips, one to New Orleans and the other to New York City, as being work related.
The New Orleans trip involved attending the Sugar Bowl football game at the invitation of the Allstate insurance company, which has a longstanding business relationship with AARP Services, the lawsuit says. The trip to New York involved seeing a show with a vendor after the workday, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit identifies as many as a dozen or more other AARP and AARP Services employees who have taken business trips like the two taken by Deus who were not fired or disciplined. A few faced disciplinary actions but were allowed to retain their jobs, the lawsuit says.
“Despite the fact that heterosexual employees were permitted to participate in work related trips to sporting events, Plaintiff was terminated purportedly for taking a work-related trip to the Sugar Bowl after receiving approval,” the complaint says.
“Terminating Plaintiff’s employment as a result of his work-related trip to the Allstate Sugar Bowl after his supervisor and the General Counsel’s office approved the trip and despite that other AARP employees participated in the same business-related activity without adverse actions being taken against any of them, is discriminatory on the basis of Plaintiff’s sexual orientation and marital status, in violation of the D.C. Human Rights Act,” the complaint states.
The Washington Blade attempted to obtain a response from the AARP to the allegations made in the Deus lawsuit, but an official said the AARP would have no comment at this time.
“Thank you for reaching out but we do not comment on pending legal matters,” said Colby Nelson, AARP’s Senior External Relations Director, in an email to the Blade.
In its response to the lawsuit filed in court, AARP Services denies it engaged in discrimination against Deus.
“All decisions made by Defendants with respect to Mr. Deus’ employment were based solely on legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons, wholly without regard to his sexual orientation, marital status, and/or any other protected classification, and were made in good faith and in compliance with applicable laws,” a Nov. 8, 2018, court filing by AARP Services says.
As part of its defense, AARP Services also filed a counterclaim against Deus, accusing him of obtaining the reimbursement of $2,155.14 for travel expenses “through fraud.” The counterclaim says Deus refused a request that he repay the reimbursement payment. It calls on the court to order him to repay the reimbursement plus interest incurred since the time the money was given to him and to pay for attorney’s fees.
Deus’s attorney, Darrell Chambers, said the allegations in the counterclaim are false and called it a form of retaliation against Deus for filing his discrimination lawsuit.
Deus’s lawsuit calls for a judgement against AARP Services of $10 million, $5 million for compensatory damages and $5 million for punitive damages, along with attorney’s fees and court costs.
“I took hundreds of business trips for AARP over the course I was there for 11 years,” Deus told the Blade. “I did what everybody else did,” he said, adding that his trips helped AARP and AARP Services obtain millions of dollars in revenue through arrangements with businesses supportive of AARP.
On its website, AARP Services, Inc. describes itself as the “professional services arm of AARP,” adding, “we support the Association’s mission of disrupting aging by helping bring new products to drive market innovation and build richer connections with consumers.”
Deus told the Blade he was dedicated to helping AARP fulfill its mission in supporting the nation’s seniors and his firing came as a devastating blow.
Court records show that at the request of the judge presiding over the case, two attempts were made to reach a conciliation agreement to settle the lawsuit, but no agreement could be reached.
The lawsuit says AARP allegedly fired at least one other gay employee, who also filed suit and an out-of-court settlement was reached. The terms of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed.
Court records also show that at the request of AARP Services, D.C. Superior Court Judge Shana Frost Matini, who is presiding over the case, agreed to a motion by AARP Services to dismiss two AARP officials named in the lawsuit as defendants and to dismiss the lawsuit’s claim of negligence against AARP Services for its firing of Deus.
Attorney Chambers said the judge dismissed the two officials because a third AARP Services official named in the lawsuit as a defendant admitted to making the decision to fire Deus.
Court records show that the judge denied motions by AARP Services to dismiss the entire case, upholding for trial the allegations of sexual orientation and marital status discrimination.
“At this time, Rick would like to share his story,” attorney Chambers told the Blade in a statement. “As a gay man who has lived in D.C. for 22 years and was discriminatorily fired by an organization that states they are gay friendly, Rick believes that his story should be heard,” Chambers said.
“The fact that he has been entrenched in a bitter and expensive legal battle with AARP Services, Inc. for five years is a cautionary tale for anyone interested in an employment relationship with AARP,” he said.
Court records show that a trial for the case has been scheduled for Feb. 12, 2024.
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats elect new leaders
LGBTQ political group set to celebrate 50th anniversary
Longtime Democratic Party activists Stevie McCarty and Brad Howard won election last week as president and vice president for administration for the Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political organization.
In a Feb. 24 announcement, the group said McCarty and Howard, both of whom are elected DC Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, ran in a special Capital Stonewall Democrats election to fill the two leadership positions that became vacant when the officers they replaced resigned.
Outgoing President Howard Garrett, who McCarty has replaced, told the Washington Blade he resigned after taking on a new position as chair of the city’s Ward 1 Democratic Committee. The Capital Stonewall Democrats announcement didn’t say who Howard replaced as vice president for administration.
The group’s website shows its other officers include Elizabeth Mitchell as Vice President for Legislative and Political Affairs, and Monica Nemeth as Treasurer. The officer position of secretary is vacant, the website shows.
“As we look toward 2026, the stakes for D.C. and for LGBTQ+ communities have never been clearer,” the group’s statement announcing McCarty and Howard’s election says. “Our 50th anniversary celebration on March 20 and the launch of our D.C. LGBTQ+ Voter’s Guide mark the beginning of a major year for endorsements, organizing, and coalition building,” the statement says.
McCarty said among the organization’s major endeavors will be holding virtual endorsement forums where candidates running for D.C. mayor and the Council will appear and seek the group’s endorsement.
Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to Capital Stonewall Democrats. McCarty said the 50th anniversary celebration on March 20, in which D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and members of the D.C. Council are expected to attend, will be held at the PEPCO Gallery meeting center at 702 8th St., N.W.
District of Columbia
D.C. police arrest man for burglary at gay bar Spark Social House
Suspect ID’d from images captured by Spark Social House security cameras
D.C. police on Feb. 18 arrested a 63-year-old man “of no fixed address” for allegedly stealing cash from the registers at the gay bar Spark Social House after unlawfully entering the bar at 2009 14th St., N.W., around 12:04 a.m. after it had closed for business, according to a police incident report.
“Later that day officers canvassing for the suspect located him nearby,” a separate police statement says. “63-year-old Tony Jones of no fixed address was arrested and charged with Burglary II,” the statement says.
The police incident report states that the bar’s owner, Nick Tsusaki, told police investigators that the bar’s security cameras captured the image of a man who has frequently visited the bar and was believed to be homeless.
“Once inside, the defendant was observed via the establishment’s security cameras opening the cash register, removing U.S. currency, and placing the currency into the left front pocket of his jacket,” the report says.
Tsusaki told the Washington Blade that he and Spark’s employees have allowed Jones to enter the bar many times since it opened last year to use the bathroom in a gesture of compassion knowing he was homeless. Tsusaki said he is not aware of Jones ever having purchased anything during his visits.
According to Tsusaki, Spark closed for business at around 10:30 p.m. on the night of the incident at which time an employee did not properly lock the front entrance door. He said no employees or customers were present when the security cameras show Jones entering Spark through the front door around 12:04 a.m.
Tsusaki said the security camera images show Jones had been inside Spark for about three hours on the night of the burglary and show him taking cash out of two cash registers. He took a total of $300, Tsusaki said.
When Tsusaki and Spark employees arrived at the bar later in the day and discovered the cash was missing from the registers they immediately called police, Tsusaki told the Blade. Knowing that Jones often hung out along the 2000 block of 14th Street where Spark is located, Tsusaki said he went outside to look for him and saw him across the street and pointed Jones out to police, who then placed him under arrest.
A police arrest affidavit filed in court states that at the time they arrested him police found the stolen cash inside the pocket of the jacket Jones was wearing. It says after taking him into police custody officers found a powdered substance in a Ziploc bag also in Jones’s possession that tested positive for cocaine, resulting in him being charged with cocaine possession in addition to the burglary charge.
D.C. Superior Court records show a judge ordered Jones held in preventive detention at a Feb. 19 presentment hearing. The judge then scheduled a preliminary hearing for the case on Feb. 20, the outcome of which couldn’t immediately be obtained.
District of Columbia
Judge rescinds order against activist in Capital Pride lawsuit
Darren Pasha accused of stalking organization staff, board members, volunteers
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Feb.18 agreed to rescind his earlier ruling declaring local gay activist Darren Pasha in default for failing to attend a virtual court hearing regarding an anti-stalking lawsuit brought against him by the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.’s annual Pride events.
The Capital Pride lawsuit, initially filed on Oct. 27, 2025, accuses Pasha of engaging in a year-long “course of conduct” of “harassment, intimidation, threats, manipulation, and coercive behavior” targeting Capital Pride staff, board members, and volunteers.
In his own court filings without retaining an attorney, Pasha has strongly denied the stalking related allegations against him, saying “no credible or admissible evidence has been provided” to show he engaged in any wrongdoing.
Judge Robert D. Okum nevertheless on Feb. 6 approved a temporary stay-away order requiring Pasha to stay at least 100 feet away from Capital Pride’s staff, volunteers, and board members until the time of a follow-up court hearing scheduled for April 17. He reduced the stay-away distance from 200 yards as requested by Capital Pride.
In his two-page order issued on Feb. 18, Okun stated that Pasha explained that he was involved in a scooter accident in which he was injured and his phone was damaged, preventing him from joining the Feb. 6 court hearing.
“Therefore, the court finds there is a good cause for vacating the default,” Okun states in his order.
At the time he initially approved the default order at the Feb. 6 hearing that Pasha didn’t attend, Okun scheduled an April 17 ex parte proof hearing in which Capital Pride could have requested a ruling in its favor seeking a permanent anti-stalking order against Pasha.
In his Feb. 18 ruling rescinding the default order Okun changed the April 17 ex parte proof hearing to an initial scheduling conference hearing in which a decision on the outcome of the case is not likely to happen.
In addition, he agreed to consider Pasha’s call for a jury trial and gave Capital Pride 14 days to contest that request. The Capital Pride lawsuit initially called for a non-jury trial by judge.
One request by Pasha that Okum denied was a call for him to order Capital Pride to stop its staff or volunteers from posting information about the lawsuit on social media. Pasha has said the D.C.-based online blog called DC Homos, which Pasha claims is operated by someone associated with Capital Pride, has been posting articles portraying him in a negative light and subjecting him to highly negative publicity.
“The defendant has not set forth a sufficient basis for the court to restrict the plaintiff’s social media postings, and the court therefore will deny the defendant’s request in his social media praecipe,” Okun states in his order.
A praecipe is a formal written document requesting action by a court.
Pasha called the order a positive development in his favor. He said he plans to file another motion with more information about what he calls the unfair and defamatory reports about him related to the lawsuit by DC Homos, with a call for the judge to reverse his decision not to order Capital Pride to stop social media postings about the lawsuit.
Pasha points to a video interview on the LGBTQ Team Rayceen broadcast, a link to which he sent to the Washington Blade, in which DC Homos operator Jose Romero acknowledged his association with Capital Pride Alliance.
Capital Pride Executive Director Ryan Bos didn’t immediately respond to a message from the Blade asking whether Romero was a volunteer or employee with Capital Pride.
Pasha also said he believes the latest order has the effect of rescinding the temporary stay away order against him approved by Okun in his earlier ruling, even though Okun makes no mention of the stay away order in his latest ruling. Capital Pride attorney Nick Harrison told the Blade the stay away order “remains in full force and effect.”
Harrison said Capital Pride has no further comment on the lawsuit.
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