Article
Source: New York Law Journal
Article
05.25.16
This article was originally published in the New York Law Journal on April 15, 2016.
As this winter's cold gives way to spring flowers, the Appellate Division has experienced its own blossoming. This year has already seen 10 judges appointed to fill vacancies across the Appellate Division. They join their colleagues already hard at work resolving new and thorny issues of New York law. Below, we highlight some of the Appellate Division's leading decisions from the first quarter of 2016.
First Department
Employment Discrimination. While ex-offenders deserve a fresh start, working for the police department might not be the right place to begin. In Matter of Belgrave v. City of New York,the First Department decided an issue of first impression and concluded that a law enforcement agency may reject a job application for a civilian position based solely on the applicant's prior criminal conviction.
After the NYPD denied the petitioner's application for a job as a 911 dispatcher based on her prior criminal conviction, she filed suit, arguing that the NYPD violated her rights under Correction Law article 23-A. That statute prohibits employers from discriminating against a prospective employee based on his or her criminal record (unless the employer determines there is a direct relationship between the offense and the duties of the position, or the employment would pose an unreasonable risk to the public).
The statute expressly does not apply to job-seekers applying for "membership in any law enforcement agency," but the petitioner argued that the exception should be read narrowly to cover only applicants for positions with the authority to enforce the law (i.e., police officers and peace officers), and not to civilian employment at a law enforcement agency.
The First Department disagreed. In a unanimous, unsigned opinion, the court concluded that, although the term "membership" is undefined in the statute, its meaning is broad enough to encompass anyone who applies to a law enforcement agency. Notwithstanding the statute's intent "to eliminate the effect of bias against ex-offenders that prevented them from obtaining employment," the express exemption for law enforcement agencies includes civilian position, such as 911 dispatchers, who have access to confidential information and are often "the first point of contact between the public and law enforcement."
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