Public Employee Press

Justice for Local 1113 members with disabilities

DC 37's fight for justice on behalf of disabled city workers laid off by the Bloomberg administration ended in victory when the union finalized a settlement for nine Office Machine Aides in Local 1113 unable to return to work at the city Dept. of Finance.

The settlement marks the final chapter of a protracted legal battle that challenged the city's decision to eliminate a job title populated exclusively by employees with disabilities. "The union, despite years of litigation, remained steadfast in its position that every Office Machine Aide the Dept. of Finance laid off be restored. We were pleased that we finally reached an acceptable agreement with the city for a settlement that makes whole the plaintiffs who could not return to work," said DC 37 Assistant General Counsel Jesse Gribben.

DC 37 leaders negotiated the settlement as part of the 2010-17 citywide economic pact.

"But there remained several plaintiffs who had retired and therefore could not be restored and thus needed to be compensated," explained Gribben, who worked with fellow attorneys Steven Sykes and Deena Mikhail.

DC 37 filed discrimination lawsuits against the city in state court in 2011 and in federal court in 2013. In 2014, the state Appellate Division reversed a lower court's ruling and forced the city to reinstate 30 Local 1113 members with back pay and seniority. Along with a court action against the Dept. of Health, DC 37 sued the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Administration for Children's Services for discriminating against Office Machine Aides who had become civil servants through Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities or nonprofit Fedcap 55-a, job training programs for people with disabilities.

"The layoffs stripped these dedicated employees of the dignity they got from earning their own way," said Local 1113 President Deborah Pitts.

"It took four long years but the fight was worth it. I am overwhelmed by this victory, and I thank the union and its legal team for staying the course and protecting our most vulnerable members," Pitts said.

— Diane S. Williams