Public Employee Press


Snapshots
Edited by Alfredo Alvarado

Chief litigator Alan Brown retires

DC 37 said farewell to a mensch as Alan Brown, a chief litigator in the union's General Counsel's Office, retired after 33 years defending the rights of public employees.

"Alan is a zealous and tenacious advocate who is willing to fight for the law but also for equity, for what's fair for the member," said Steve Sykes, a senior attorney at DC 37. "If you line up the people who won back pay and whose jobs Alan saved, the line would be around the block-that is something beautiful for the members and this union."

Brown was the go-to lawyer who won back pay for DC 37 members stranded by the blizzard of '96 and other catastrophic storms, and he successfully litigated the
return of Brooklyn-Queens Day to members of Board of Education Employees Local 372 who work in schools in those boroughs.

Brown settled many cases favorably without arbitration. Colleagues in the Office of Labor Relations described him as a dedicated, passionate and well-respected attorney.

"The union teaches us that life is unfair but work would be particularly unfair without unions," Brown said. "In a profound way, unions address the power balance."

"I thank my secretary Ivette Andujar for always having my back, my wife, Barbara, for being a force of nature and an extraordinary companion, and the wonderful people I've worked with other the years," said
Brown.