New London — The executive director of the New London Housing Authority has filed a complaint with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities against the Housing Authority’s board of commissioners and city — claiming ongoing harassing, threatening and intimidating behavior.

The complaint by Sue Shontell alleges the behavior is due to her sexual orientation, because she is gay. The complaint was filed on Oct. 18 and obtained by The Day on Tuesday.

Shontell claims in the complaint that at least one board member has made verbal threats against her job and degrading remarks in front of staff. Complaints she made to Mayor Michael Passero about the behavior were met with retaliation, she claims.

The complaint comes during a time of tumult within the Housing Authority, which has come under renewed scrutiny because of poor conditions at the federally subsidized Thames River Apartments on Crystal Avenue — previously the focus of a class-action lawsuit.

There have also been renewed calls for swift action on the deteriorating high-rises from Passero and board members — all appointed by Passero.

Shontell specifically names board member Kathleen Mitchell in the complaint, claiming Mitchell made verbal threats about her job as director and bullied the former chairwoman of the board, Tambria Moore, into resigning. Mitchell also runs a “horrible” Facebook page called Whale Tales Two, “where public people are berated, insulted and accused,” Shontell said in the complaint.

Shontell said she has reported Mitchell’s actions to both the City Council liaison and to the mayor but nothing has been done to stop it. She also claims her complaints have led to a form of retaliation by Passero, who has sent different city departments to inspect Housing Authority-managed units and himself showed up on site while the authority’s maintenance department staff was working, to “intimidate them.”

Reached by phone on Tuesday, Shontell declined to speak about specifics of why she thought the alleged actions were discriminatory but said the complaint was “evolving” and was not about a single board member.

She said the new chairwoman of the commission, Betsy Gibson, has been “running amok” and working with Passero on housing issues without Shontell's or the board’s knowledge. As an example, Shontell said Gibson and city officials have scheduled their own meeting with housing residents this week without consulting her or the board.

“At least one board member and the mayor are doing their best get me out,” Shontell said. “I really want to know where I am with my job. She’s not communicating with the board or me. It’s just her and the mayor ... I don’t know what the end game is but it’s impossible to do our job.”

Both Gibson and Passero have stated publicly that they have met with state officials to investigate the possibility of removing tenants from the Crystal Avenue high-rises under a Department of Housing and Urban Development program. The board has since voted in favor of applying for a “demolition disposition” from HUD in hopes of obtaining vouchers that would allow residents to move out of the high-rises.

HUD recently downgraded Housing Authority's status to “substandard,” in part because of the conditions at the high-rises. Gibson and Passero both have expressed concern over a temporary boiler that is supplying hot water and heat there.

The board’s vote comes even as a private developer previously hired by the authority works to obtain zoning approval for a modern housing development at the former Edgerton School property for relocation of all of the 124 families from the high-rises.

Shontell said the new board has acted prematurely and with disregard to legal advice.

“I’m almost out of words. It’s heartbreaking to spend 13 years here and to turn the agency around only to have it destroyed,” Shontell said.

Board member Mitchell admitted friction with Shontell in the past but denied every allegation contained in the complaint.

“I think she would have a very difficult time substantiating any one of those claims. They’re frivolous as far as I’m concerned,” Mitchell said.

“We’ve had an adversarial relationship going way back but it’s based on her management style, not her sexual orientation,” Mitchell said. “I do like her as a person. Her management of the properties leaves a lot to be desired.”

The Connecticut Human Rights and Opportunities Act makes it illegal for an employer “to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, marital status, disability (learning, mental, intellectual, physical), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, and criminal record (in state employment & licensing only).”

A CHRO spokeswoman confirmed on Tuesday the complaint is pending in the investigative phase. Passero declined to comment. Gibson did not return a call seeking comment.

g.smith@theday.com