Public Employee Press

Court sees possible discrimination in disabled workers' firings

Dozens of disabled members of Local 1113 moved a step closer to winning their jobs back in August when the state Appellate Division unanimously reversed the lower court that rejected their discrimination suit, which charged the Finance Dept. with targeting 78 disabled workers for layoffs.

The higher court said the union suit demonstrated an "inference of discrimination" and ordered the case to proceed.

"We are glad the Appellate Division recognized the layoffs as probably biased, and we look forward to presenting additional evidence that will make it clear that the agency discriminated against the 78 hardworking, disabled Office Machine Aides," said DC 37 Senior Assistant General Counsel Steven Sykes.

In November 2010, the Dept. of Finance notified the union that it planned to eliminate the OMA title, a noncompetitive civil service position that mostly employs disabled workers hired under the Fed Cap training program.

"It was hard for these disabled workers who have served this city for 10 or 20 years to understand why they were laid off when they have done everything right," said Local 1113 President Deborah Pitts. "The layoffs stripped them of the dignity they got from earning their own way. This was unconscionable."

Because of the high-quality work these members did, the city initially wanted to keep them and DOF opened the OMA title for them, Pitts explained. OMAs earn about $30,000 a year, and through the 55A program, they obtain civil service status without having to take a competitive exam.

Despite disabilities that include deafness, diabetes, HIV, and blindness, Pitts said, "They knew the work and did it with dignity, pride and very few mistakes, but at some point the agency felt like they could just scrap them. Now we don't have people to do the work and there is a backlog." "Work is piled up while these hardworking, disabled members are unemployed," Pitts said.