City drops suit against COBA
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New York City dropped its lawsuit against COBA on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021. Photo by Michael Appelton/Mayoral Photography
By Jacob Kaye
Only days after first filing it, New York City dropped its lawsuit against the Correctional Officers’ Benevolent Association on Wednesday.
The suit, which was filed on Monday in New York City Supreme Court, accused the union of encouraging its members to commit mass absenteeism and a work slowdown, in violation of the collective bargaining agreement between the two parties set to expire in February. The legal action is the latest in a string of legal battles between the city and the union, as Rikers Island experiences some of its most violent and dangerous months in decades.
The city dropped the lawsuit after COBA’s attorney told the court Wednesday that “officers who are fit for duty should show up for work as required by law.”
“COBA has never instructed anyone not to show up for work or walk off a post or bang in sick or claim a personal emergency when that correction officer is, in fact, not sick nor experiencing a personal emergency,” the statement continued.
A representative from the city’s law department agreed to drop the suit after the statement was given, according to a transcription of the proceedings obtained by the Eagle.
“Because of the City’s legal action, COBA is finally encouraging officers who are fit for duty to show up for work and do right by their fellow officers who’ve been showing up to work this whole time,” a representative from the Law Department said. “This is a step forward to address challenges at Rikers, and while this ends the immediate court action, the City will continue monitoring the situation and stands ready to take further legal action as necessary.”
Despite the tame statement by the union’s attorney, COBA’s president, Benny Boscio, had choice words for Mayor Bill de Blasio following the court appearance.
“Once again, our pathologically lying mayor, who hasn’t visited Rikers Island in over four years to see for himself the humanitarian crisis he’s created, is re-writing history,” Boscio said in a statement to the Eagle. “Breaking news Mayor de Blasio, you’re the head manager in this city. So now that you have fully withdrawn your frivolous lawsuit against us, why don’t you visit Rikers and talk to our officers instead of this futile effort to destroy our union? Unlike you, in a few months, COBA will still be here.”
Despite the dropping of the suit, the crisis on Rikers Island – which has resulted in the deaths of a dozen people in custody this year – has also resulted in an all-out legal battle between the city and the union that represents corrections officers.
Both COBA and the city have claimed the other has violated the collective bargaining agreement signed by both parties in March 2019.
The city and the Department of Correction have blamed the increase in violence and decline in conditions inside the jail complex on the historic correctional officer staff shortage. Earlier this year, COBA sued the city over the poor working conditions, which included the usage of double and triple shifts without breaks.
Last week, de Blasio announced a five-point plan to address the staff shortage and dangerous conditions on Rikers. One of the items on the list described a plan to replace correctional officers with NYPD officers when an incarcerated person is taken to court.
Boscio claimed that replacing one union with another would be a violation of the collective bargaining agreement.
COBA did not respond to request for comment concerning the clause Boscio said was violated.
