Roughly a dozen employees at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport have been warned not to destroy records over what the airport’s legal team has described as “tortious interference” with business operations.

Tortious interference is the legal term for intentionally damaging someone else’s contractual or business relationships with others, causing economic harm.

Letters sent out Wednesday by Providence attorney Michael DeSisto claimed some workers sent anonymous derogatory correspondence about the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) to regulatory agencies, airlines, and cargo partners with the intent to interfere with airport operations. 

“These actions caused RIAC reputational harm and triggered Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) involvement which required RIAC to activate its federally regulated continuity of operations plan,” DeSisto wrote.

DeSisto demanded workers not to remove paper records unless necessary to preserve them. His letter notes that electronic correspondence such as emails, voicemail, WhatsApp messages, and even floppy disks should also be retained.

Recipients were both current and former employees as well as union members and nonunion members, according to a statement issued by RIAC Thursday.

In early October, RIAC announced it had retained DeSisto’s firm after learning airlines received anonymous letters claiming the airport had a toxic work environment — including one sent to airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration claiming the airport would be closed Aug. 13 due to an employee walkout. No walkout ever happened.

The anonymous letters threatening the walkout came as airport and union leadership negotiated a new three-year contract contract after the most recent one expired in June. A tentative agreement reached between airport executives and union leaders in September was rejected by rank-and-file members. Management and union negotiators are scheduled to meet sometime next week, RIAC spokesperson Bill Fischer said Friday.

RIAC Chief of Staff Brittany Morgan previously told Rhode Island Current that the threat of a walkout cost the airport “hundreds of thousands” of dollars to comply with federal mandates to line up outside contractors to cover union positions if necessary.

“It is unfortunate that it has come to this, but this investigation is required to ensure that individuals – regardless of their motivations — will not impact our ability to fulfill our mission, provide Rhode Islanders with an abundance of direct routes, fulfill obligations to our airline partners and serve as a true economic engine for the State of Rhode Island,” Morgan said in a statement issued Thursday.

The investigation by RIAC into the letters is one of many bumps added to the turbulent relationship between employees and management.

Airport officials on Oct. 29 fired Steven Parent, a lieutenant in T.F. Green’s fire department since 2013. Parent in 2019 became president of Local 2873 of RI Council 94 for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) — which represents roughly 120 employees.

RIAC claimed he “knowingly and willfully engaged in efforts to sabotage airport operations” by discouraging people from applying for jobs at the airport and taking in overtime pay covering for the vacant positions — allegations that were also highlighted in DeSisto’s letter.

Jim Cenerini, legislative affairs/political action coordinator at Rhode Island Council 94 AFSCME said the union is pursuing all contractual and legal avenues to defend its members in response to the notices sent by DeSisto.

“The union will not be coerced, intimidated, or bullied by dictatorial tactics,” Cenerini said in an emailed statement Friday.