Donohue v. Mangano
| Decision Date | 20 August 2012 |
| Docket Number | 12-CV-2568 (ADS)(GRB) |
| Parties | DANNY DONOHUE, as President of the Civil Service Employees Association, Inc., AFSCME, AFL-CIO, JERRY LARICCHIUTA, as Local President of CSEA Nassau County Local 830, and the CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, INC. Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Plaintiffs, v. EDWARD MANGANO, in his official capacity as County Executive of Nassau County, NASSAU COUNTY LEGISLATURE, GEORGE MARAGOS, in his official capacity as Nassau County Comptroller, and the COUNTY OF NASSAU, Defendants. JOHN JARONCZYK, as President of the Nassau County Sheriff's Correction Officers Benevolent Association, Inc., and the NASSAU COUNTY SHERIFF'S CORRECTION OFFICERS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION, INC. Plaintiffs, v. EDWARD MANGANO, in his official capacity as County Executive of Nassau County, COUNTY OF NASSAU, Defendants. JAMES CARVER, individually and as President of the Police Benevolent Association of the Police Department of the County of Nassau, Inc., POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF THE COUNTY OF NASSAU, INC., GARY LEARNED, individually and as President of the Superior Officers Association, Police Department, County of Nassau, Inc., SUPERIOR OFFICERS ASSOCIATION, POLICE DEPARTMENT, COUNTY OF NASSAU, INC., GLENN CICCONE, individually and as President of the Detectives' Association, Inc. of the Police Department of the County of Nassau, and the DETECTIVES' ASSOCIATION, INC. OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF THE COUNTY OF NASSAU, Plaintiffs, v. COUNTY OF NASSAU, EDWARD MANGANO, in his official capacity as County Executive of Nassau County, the NASSAU COUNTY LEGISLATURE, PETER SCHMITT in his official capacity as Presiding Officer of the Nassau County Legislature, and GEORGE MARAGOS, in his official capacity as Nassau County Comptroller, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
By: Daren J. Rylewicz, Esq.
Steven A. Crain, Esq.
Aaron Edward Kaplan
Miguel G. Ortiz, Esq., Of Counsel
and the Nassau County Sheriff's Correction Officers Benevolent Association, Inc.
Attorneys for the Plaintiffs James Carver, individually and as President of the Police Benevolent
Association of the Police Department of the County of Nassau, Inc., Gary Learned, individually
individually and as President of the Detectives' Association, Inc. of the Police Department of the
By: Linda N. Keller, Esq..
Seth H. Greenberg, Esq., Of Counsel
By: Barbara E. Van Riper, Assistant County Attorney
By: Peter James Clines, Esq., Of Counsel
Presently before the Court is a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by the Plaintiffs to enjoin the implementation of Nassau County Local Law No. 8-2012, also known as Clerk Item No. 315-2012, asserting that it violates the Plaintiffs' fundamental constitutional rights secured by Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution (the "Contracts Clause"), aswell as other state statutory provisions. For the reasons set forth below, the motion for a preliminary injunction is granted.
The Plaintiff Danny Donohue is the elected statewide president of the Civil Service Employees Association, Inc. (the "CSEA"), which represents approximately 295,000 employees and retirees throughout the State of New York. The Plaintiff Jerry Laricchiuta is the elected President of the CSEA Nassau Local 830, a subdivision of the CSEA, which represents approximately 7,000 employees of Nassau County (the "County").
The Plaintiff John Jaronczyk is the elected president of the Nassau County Sheriff's Correction Officers Benevolent Association, Inc. ("COBA"), which represents County Sheriff's Department employees serving in the civil service titles of Correction Officer, Correction Corporal, Correction Sergeant, Correction Lieutenant, Correction Captain and employees serving in investigative ranks.
The Plaintiff James Carver is the president of the Police Benevolent Association of the Police Department of the County of Nassau, Inc. (the "PBA"), which is the exclusive collective bargaining representative of all uniformed police officers employed by the County. The Plaintiff Gary Learned is the president of the Superior Officers Association Police Department, County of Nassau, Inc. (the "SOA"), which is the exclusive collective bargaining representative for the unit consisting of Superior Officers ranging from Sergeant through Assistant Chief of the County Police Department. Finally, the Plaintiff Glenn Ciccone is the president of the Detectives' Association, Inc. of the Police Department of the County of Nassau (the "DAI"), which is theexclusive collective bargaining representative for the unit consisting of Detectives employed by the County.
There are three sets of plaintiffs in this consolidated action—the Donohue Plaintiffs, the Jaroncyzk Plaintiffs, and the Carver Plaintiffs. For purposes of this Order, the Court will refer to these three sets of plaintiffs collectively as the "Plaintiffs", "bargaining units", or "unions", unless otherwise specified.
The Defendants are the County of Nassau, the Nassau County Legislature (the "Legislature"), Edward Mangano, in his official capacity as County Executive of Nassau County, Peter Schmitt, in his official capacity as Presiding Officer of the Nassau County Legislature, and George Maragos, in his official capacity as Nassau County Comptroller. "While the named Defendants differ in part as to each case due to the different groups of public employees represented as Plaintiffs in [each of the consolidated] matters, the object of the preliminary injunction motions and the arguments made in support of those motions are broadly the same." Donohue v. Paterson, 715 F. Supp. 2d 306, 312 (N.D.N.Y. 2010). Thus for purposes of this Order, the Court will refer to the various defendants in all three consolidated actions collectively as the "Defendants".
In the three consolidated actions, the Plaintiffs are public employee organizations within the meaning of Section 201 of the Public Employees' Fair Employment Act, Civil Service Law §200 et seq. (the "Taylor Law"), as well as officers from these organizations.
"[T]o promote harmonious and cooperative relationships between government and its employees and to protect the public by assuring, at all times, the orderly and uninterrupted operations and functions of government," Article 14 sets forth the rights of employee organizations, and the procedures governing their relations with the State as an employer. See N.Y. Civ. Ser. Law § 200.
Donohue, 715 F. Supp. 2d at 313.
The manifestation of this working relationship between the County government and its employees is their negotiated contractual agreements. The Plaintiffs are parties to a number of various collective bargaining agreements ("CBAs") with the County, which set forth the terms and conditions of their employment. In particular, the terms of the CBAs generally include salaries, wages, employee benefits such as medical insurance, and hours of work. In each of the three Complaints in the present case, the Plaintiffs take care to describe the relevant background information that is specific to their bargaining unit's negotiation history. Several of the unions describe the concessions that they have made throughout the past few years, in order to meet the demands of the previous County Executive.
On April 30, 2012, the County Executive Edward Mangano ("Mangano" or the "County Executive") proposed Local Law No. 8-2012—also known as Clerk Item No. 315-2012 ("LL 315-12")—which was submitted to the County Legislature for approval. LL 315-12 explains the background of the law, in a section entitled "Legislative Intent", as follows:
Nassau County is currently embroiled in a fiscal crisis which has seriously jeopardized its ability to finance the payment of tax certiorari settlements and judgments. This crisis is particularly acute because the inability of the County to finance the payment of those settlements and judgments has resulted in economic hardship for many of the County residents and businesses who are owed refunds pursuant to those settlements and judgments.
(LL 315-12 § 1.) The legislation goes on to refer to the historical background of the law. In particular, it states that the County Executive had submitted a multi-year financial plan, approved by the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority ("NIFA"), which included provisions for transitional financing of tax refunds. However, in order to secure bonding to finance the payments under this plan, a bipartisan super-majority vote of the County Legislature wasrequired pursuant to the New York Local Finance Law. Thus, despite the "clear need to raise funds to finance the payment of these refunds," the law states that "certain Legislators have steadfastly refused to approve any bonding absent a quid pro quo". (LL 315-12 § 1.)
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