Human Servs. Council of N.Y. v. The City of New York

• Decision Date: 29 September 2022
• Docket Number: 21 Civ. 11149 (PGG)
• Parties: HUMAN SERVICES COUNCIL OF NEW YORK, BRONXWORKS, INC., CATHOLIC CHARITIES, DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN, THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY, THE CHILDREN'S VILLAGE, THE FEDCAP GROUP INC., FORESTDALE INC., GREENWICH HOUSE, INC., MOSHOLU MONTEFIORE COMMUNITY CENTER, INC., PUBLIC HEALTH SOLUTIONS, and RISEBORO COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP INC., Plaintiffs, v. THE CITY OF NEW YORK, ERIC ADAMS, in his official capacity as the Mayor of the City of New York, and BRAD LANDERS, in his official capacity as the Comptroller of the City of New York, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

HUMAN SERVICES COUNCIL OF NEW YORK, BRONXWORKS, INC., CATHOLIC CHARITIES, DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN, THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY, THE CHILDREN'S VILLAGE, THE FEDCAP GROUP INC., FORESTDALE INC., GREENWICH HOUSE, INC., MOSHOLU MONTEFIORE COMMUNITY CENTER, INC., PUBLIC HEALTH SOLUTIONS, and RISEBORO COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP INC., Plaintiffs,
v.
THE CITY OF NEW YORK, ERIC ADAMS, in his official capacity as the Mayor of the City of New York, and BRAD LANDERS, in his official capacity as the Comptroller of the City of New York, Defendants.

No. 21 Civ. 11149 (PGG)

United States District Court, S.D. New York

September 29, 2022

ORDER

PAUL G. GARDEPHE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

In this action, Plaintiff Human Services Council of New York (“HSC”) and several of its members have sued the City of New York (the “City”), Mayor Eric Adams, and Comptroller Brad Landers, alleging that New York City Administrative Code § 6-145 - also known as N.Y.C. Local Law 87 of 2021 (“Local Law 87”) - is unconstitutional and preempted by federal law. District Council 37 (“DC-37”) has moved to intervene pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(b)(1)(B). (Dkt. No. 19) Plaintiff HSC opposes the motion. (Dkt. No. 37)

For the reasons stated below, DC-37's motion will be granted.

1

BACKGROUND

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

As of November 16, 2021, Local Law 87 requires human services contractors and subcontractors - including some of HSC's members - to either enter into labor peace agreements with labor organizations, or attest that no union has sought to represent their employees, as a condition to being awarded or renewing contracts with the City or its agencies. (Am. Cmplt. (Dkt. No. 76) ¶¶ 1, 4) The law provides as follows:

(1) No later than 90 days after the award or renewal of a city service contract . . ., such covered employer, shall either

(A) submit an attestation to the applicable contracting agency, signed by one or more labor organizations, as applicable, stating that the covered employer has entered into one or more labor peace agreements with such labor organizations . . .; or

(B) submit an attestation to the applicable contracting agency stating that the covered employer's covered employees are not currently represented by a labor organization and that no labor organization has sought to represent such covered employees

N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 6-145(b).

Under Local Law 87, the “labor peace agreement” must “require[] that the covered employer and the labor organization . . . agree to the uninterrupted delivery of services to be rendered pursuant to the city service contract and to refrain from actions intended to or having the effect of interrupting such services.” N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 6-145(a). A failure to comply with Local Law 87 “may constitute a material breach” of a services contract with the City, thus permitting the City to “terminat[e] . . . the contract.” N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 6-145 (e)(2)(C). “Interested parties” may submit “verified complaint[s]” of potential violations of the law to the Comptroller for investigation. See N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 6-145(f)(1).

2

The Amended Complaint asserts that Local Law 87 improperly inserts union leaders into the City's contracting procurement process, in violation of Federal law. (Id. ¶¶ 6-7, 133) Plaintiffs contend that Local Law 87 compromises New Yorkers' access to social services because it requires human services providers to obtain union leaders' signatures to maintain their City contracts, unless the providers can attest that no union has sought to represent the provider's employees. (Id. ¶ 3, 5, 140) Plaintiffs assert that the signature requirement gives union leaders de facto veto power over City contracts - power that could be misused and exercised in an arbitrary fashion to the detriment of all New Yorkers. (Id. ¶¶ 7, 38)

Plaintiffs further contend that Local Law 87 unreasonably interferes with workers' rights in violation of Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (the “NLRA”), and is thus preempted by the NLRA. (Id. ¶ 11, 161-62) According to Plaintiffs, Local Law 87 effectively forces unionization of all human...