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May 10, 2012
Where were promised union jobs, and wages for training program? Lawsuit by trainees against BUILD, Forest City faces key court argument tomorrow; defendants ask judge to dismiss most but not all claims
Atlantic Yards Report
Amid the Barbra Streisand hoopla, Atlantic Yards controversy persists.
The federal lawsuit filed last November against Forest City Ratner and job-training group BUILD (Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development) faces a crucial hearing Friday, May 11, as a federal court will hear arguments on the defendants' motions to get most but not all of the charges dismissed.
Seven (of 36) people who went through a highly-competitive pre-apprenticeship training program (PATP) enumerated in the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), sued BUILD, Forest City, and individual executives, as well as the company that BUILD found to provide unpaid training for them.
The plaintiffs, who sued on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, seek to recover not only unpaid wages but also to recover damages based on what they call broken promises that led them to participate in a "sham employment training program."
Whatever the result of the motions, some version of the case will persist. If the motions are unsuccessful, the court argument will ultimately concern damages that represent lost earnings from a union career, and paid potentially by deep-pocketed corporate defendants.
If successful, the motions will reduce the case to an argument about smaller sums that represent unpaid wages from the training program, paid by less-established defendants. Note that a motion to dismiss must treat allegations as true, but argue that, as a matter of law, they are not valid.
The hearing will be at 11:30 am in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Courtroom 6C South, Brooklyn, before Judge John Gleeson.
Posted by eric at May 10, 2012 1:05 PM