As front-line workers at HRA centers, the members of Clerical-Administrative Local 1549 were caught in a crossfire. Policies that were in effect since the Giuliani era called for rejecting people applying for Food Stamps, Medicaid, and cash benefits. But in the Reynolds v. Giuliani case, the court ordered the city to comply with applicants’ legal rights.

One practice in particular endangered Receptionists, Job Opportunity Specialists and Eligibility Specialists at the Human Resources Administration. After Reynolds, the agency used office temps and welfare recipients as “spotters.”

The undercover informants present false stories to welfare workers and report on the results. HRA takes the statements of the ill-trained “spotters” at face value.

Assistant Clerical Division Director Eddie Gates points to numerous cases where the spotters discredited HRA employees who had excellent long-term work records. “In a clear pattern of political scapegoating, these members were presumed guilty until we proved them innocent,” said Mr. Gates.

Local 1549 attorney Martin Druyan successfully represented many of the victimized members before the city’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. He notes that HRA would respond to claimed violations of the Reynolds ruling by “going into court and blaming the workers for turning away clients.”

In the most recent case, one HRA employee with an excellent record endured a year of hearings before an OATH judge ruled in her favor. Local 1549 Grievance Rep Alpine James said, “The agency made an arrogant assumption of the guilt of our member, even in the face of documentation to the contrary.”

Clerical Division Director Ronnie Harris summed up the most recent victory: “The spotter was inaccurate and the agency was trying to deceive people, but it took union intervention to demonstrate the obscenity of this failed policy.”