2003 Layoff Survey |
Intro
TO ALL UNION MEMBERS AFFECTED BY
GOVERNOR ROWLAND’S ILLEGAL LAYOFFS IN 2003
We are writing to all union members who may have been financially affected by Governor Rowland’s illegal layoffs in 2003 to provide an update on the status of our lawsuit
against Governor Rowland and the State.
As many of you already know, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that Governor Rowland’s layoff orders in 2003 violated the First Amendment and were illegal. Although the State had the right to seek review of the Court of Appeals’ decision in the United States Supreme Court, we were able to convince the Attorney General at the end of last year to defer seeking Supreme Court review and to enter into settlement discussions to resolve the case. The actual process was delayed by former Governor Rowland’s attempt on his own to convince the Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit’s decision, which the Supreme Court ultimately rejected.
We have, since early this year, been having discussions with the State about the ways to gather information necessary to calculate damages, and we are now in the process of trying to determine the amount of damages the affected union members have sustained as a result of the illegal layoffs. We have received data from the State to help us calculate damages, and we have retained an economic expert team to assist in this process.
We also need information from all union members who were affected by the layoffs orders. Affected employees fall into one of the following classifications:
1. Employees who received a layoff notice in 2002 or 2003 and were laid off and never returned to state employment;
2. Employees who received a layoff notice in 2002 or 2003 and were laid off and subsequently returned to state employment in the same or a lesser paying position;
3. Employees who received a layoff notice and elected to take early retirement;
4. Employees who received a layoff notice but were able to bump a less senior employee and obtain a lesser paying position (or position at the same grade that required travel or other additional expenses);
5. Employees who were bumped out of their positions by more senior employees who received layoff notices and who then fall into one of the four categories listed above.
The State has provided us with the names of all union employees were actually laid off
(i.e., after exercise of bumping rights and transfers due to early retirements). We have also been
provided with the names of all union employees who received layoff notices and took early
retirement in 2003.
We want to confirm this information concerning everyone who was affected by the layoff orders and attempt to establish, as best as possible, the affected employees’ losses.
Please fill out the following survey as soon as possible.
If you have questions about the form or the information we are seeking, please contact us – preferably by email at mjackson@sgtlaw.com – for clarification.
Thanks.
DAVID S. GOLUB
JONATHAN M. LEVINE
SILVER GOLUB & TEITELL LLP
GOVERNOR ROWLAND’S ILLEGAL LAYOFFS IN 2003
We are writing to all union members who may have been financially affected by Governor Rowland’s illegal layoffs in 2003 to provide an update on the status of our lawsuit
against Governor Rowland and the State.
As many of you already know, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that Governor Rowland’s layoff orders in 2003 violated the First Amendment and were illegal. Although the State had the right to seek review of the Court of Appeals’ decision in the United States Supreme Court, we were able to convince the Attorney General at the end of last year to defer seeking Supreme Court review and to enter into settlement discussions to resolve the case. The actual process was delayed by former Governor Rowland’s attempt on his own to convince the Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit’s decision, which the Supreme Court ultimately rejected.
We have, since early this year, been having discussions with the State about the ways to gather information necessary to calculate damages, and we are now in the process of trying to determine the amount of damages the affected union members have sustained as a result of the illegal layoffs. We have received data from the State to help us calculate damages, and we have retained an economic expert team to assist in this process.
We also need information from all union members who were affected by the layoffs orders. Affected employees fall into one of the following classifications:
1. Employees who received a layoff notice in 2002 or 2003 and were laid off and never returned to state employment;
2. Employees who received a layoff notice in 2002 or 2003 and were laid off and subsequently returned to state employment in the same or a lesser paying position;
3. Employees who received a layoff notice and elected to take early retirement;
4. Employees who received a layoff notice but were able to bump a less senior employee and obtain a lesser paying position (or position at the same grade that required travel or other additional expenses);
5. Employees who were bumped out of their positions by more senior employees who received layoff notices and who then fall into one of the four categories listed above.
The State has provided us with the names of all union employees were actually laid off
(i.e., after exercise of bumping rights and transfers due to early retirements). We have also been
provided with the names of all union employees who received layoff notices and took early
retirement in 2003.
We want to confirm this information concerning everyone who was affected by the layoff orders and attempt to establish, as best as possible, the affected employees’ losses.
Please fill out the following survey as soon as possible.
If you have questions about the form or the information we are seeking, please contact us – preferably by email at mjackson@sgtlaw.com – for clarification.
Thanks.
DAVID S. GOLUB
JONATHAN M. LEVINE
SILVER GOLUB & TEITELL LLP