It is a fight to level the playing field to be able to compete for jobs and careers on the basis of skills and make available apprentice training to all. In 1973 Al Percy launched a class action lawsuit to give workers like him a chance to better their lot in life. It would also ensure the availability of skilled workers to build the infrastructure of the future.
Case 1:21-cv-01421-NGG Case MDL No. 3011 Document 1 25-6 Filed 03/17/21 Filed 06/24/21 Page 50 Page of 154 50 of PageID 154 #: 306 CLASS REPRESENTATIVE 364. Class Representatives of the Plaintiff Class are Donna Hodge, Annette Hall, Karen Grant Williams, and Alexi Arias, a Class of employees of Employers. The Class is a class of all employees working for the Employers covered by the Program identified in this Complaint. The Employee Defendants in 26 subrogation actions removed to are a subclass to the Class, being employees injured on the job while working for the Employers. The personal and business interests of these Class Representatives and the claims hereinafter set forth are fully aligned with those of the Class. 365. Class Representative of the Percy Class, Albert E. Percy has and will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the members of the Class. Percy resides at 119-09 232 Street, Cambria Heights, NY 11411-2223, where he owns a residence and is an active registered voter in election district 70 in Queens. Percy was the Class Representative in lawsuit Percy v. Brennan, 73 Civ. 4279; File # 41415384 (S.D.N.Y.) (the “Percy vs Brennan Action”) for the class of all black and Spanish-surnamed persons identified in Percy v. Brennan. Percy has no conflict of interest with the members of the Class. FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION AGAINST DEFENDANT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND STATE OFFICERS FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF PROHIBITING INTERFERENCE WITH THE ALTERNATIVE EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE UNDER 42 U.S.C. 1981 AND 1985 IN VIOLATION OF 42 U.S.C. 1983 366. The Plaintiffs repeat and reiterate the allegations set forth above as though fully set forth herein. 367. Relief is sought under 42 U.S.C. 1981 and 1985 for acts of the the Owner Operator Defendants and the Party-in-Interest Defendants, in concert with New York State Officer Defendants under color of law in violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983. The 42 U.S.C. 1983 causes of action involve denial of equal protection and due process of law under the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution for denial of equal protection and due process of laws, and for denial of right of assembly, as well as violation of 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2 for refusal of the Employer Defendants to adopt and implement the Program as an Alternative Employment Practice. 368. The State of New York, its Government Agencies and its State Officers are implicated in all of these cases by the failure of Executive Order 45 (9 NYCRR 3.45), and complicity in the wrongful acts of the Employer Defendants, the Owner Operator Defendants, and the Prohibited Transaction Defendants, as a causes of action in favor of the Class for damages for violation of 42 U.S.C. 2000 e-2, 42 U.S.C. 1981, 1983, and 1985, under the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution, for denial of equal protection and due process of laws, and for denial of right of assembly. 50
Case 1:21-cv-01421-NGG Case MDL No. 3011 Document 1 25-6 Filed 03/17/21 Filed 06/24/21 Page 51 Page of 154 51 of PageID 154 #: 307 Focusing on the current spread of infection that has occurred in nursing homes as it affects members of the Plaintiff Class employed in nursing homes, the root cause of this disaster begins with the failure of Governors Executive Order 45. We draw here from the following as evidence of the consequence: Findings of the New York Attorney General in Report of January 30, 2021, Attachment #1 hereto 369. The New York Attorney General (“AG” or “OAG”) has corroborated the deficiencies in qualifications of employee members of the Class described in her report as staff, in her report on investigations of nursing homes. 370. Regarding nursing home Employers, there is direct corroboration from the Report ratifying what the employee Class now knows: extreme irreparable harm has been visited upon everyone, as identified by the OAG Report, due to shortcoming in staffing training and competency. And in wider sense, the Percy Class was promised affirmative action in a settlement with the Percy Class in Case 73 Civ. 4279 by presenting Executive Order 45 in settlement. The problem is that Executive Order 45 was declared unconstitutional and unenforceable. The Percy Class pursued its own self-help as permitted by law over many years despite the challenges by the State Officer Defendants. 371. Now the interference by the State in complicity with the Owner Operator Defendants and Party-in-Interest has exposed pre-existing insufficient staffing competency in nursing homes that are a consequence of State Officer Defendants’ lack of support that was supposed to come from by Executive Order 45, and active interference as identified herein. 372. Culpability as identified herein put residents and staff in nursing homes at increased risk of harm, causing sickness and death during this pandemic. 373. The AG found that as nursing home resident and staff COVID-19 infections rose during the initial wave of the pandemic, staffing absences increased at many nursing homes. As a result, already-low staffing levels decreased even further, to especially dangerous levels in some homes, even as the need for care increased due to the need to comply with COVID-19 infection control protocols and the loss of assistance from family visitors. Attorney General James Releases Report on Nursing Homes Response to COVID-19 New York State Attorney General page 4 COVID-19 exposure is documented to: Health care workers First responders Transportation workers 51
