Q&A
DOC's process for handling lawsuit notifications and removing accused officers
2:34:50
·
5 min
Council Member Sandy Nurse questions DOC officials about their process for receiving notifications about lawsuits and the timeline for removing accused officers from duty. The discussion reveals challenges in the notification system and decision-making process.
- DOC officials explain that the Law Department notifies them of lawsuits, but there can be delays in this process
- The timeline for removing accused officers from duty is discussed, with DOC claiming they take immediate action upon receiving notifications
- Council members express concern about the potential lengthy delays between lawsuit filings and DOC taking action
- DOC officials acknowledge past issues with their notification system and claim to have implemented improvements
James Conroy
2:34:50
Yes.
Sandy Nurse
2:34:53
So if you are informed about the lawsuit, you get information from the law department cases are filed, then why would someone still be posted in the facility at a women's facility?
2:35:09
Nearly months, 8 months later.
James Conroy
2:35:11
Sorry.
2:35:11
It's difficult to answer that question without discussing the specifics, but we do review with law and internally now any of those types of allegations.
2:35:20
We we stated at the last hearing that there were movements on on those individuals Again, beyond that, I can't go too much further, but it's something that we're looking into as a processes for us more robustly given, again, the scope and and the number of laws.
Sandy Nurse
2:35:36
And I I need to get more of a a timeline to understand.
2:35:41
The email comes in or you get a call, you get notified.
2:35:45
That goes to a who?
James Conroy
2:35:48
The the legal division.
Althea Stevens
2:35:50
Okay.
Sandy Nurse
2:35:50
And what does the legal division do as soon as they get that email?
James Conroy
2:35:54
These series of lawsuits, so it's different now we haven't received any, you know, on a one off basis since the kind of bulk of these adults of Iraq's lawsuits came in.
2:36:05
So I can't specifically comment on, like, what the processes is.
Sandy Nurse
2:36:08
And say that a theoretical email comes in, that person gets it, what does their next course of action.
James Conroy
2:36:17
Would come directly to me, and then I would confer with the commissioner and the executive staff on the next step.
Sandy Nurse
2:36:22
So in a situation like this, we can assume that the law department says, hey.
2:36:26
There's a case against this person.
2:36:28
They're at Rosies.
2:36:30
You get this commissioner.
2:36:31
Then what is your course of action?
Lynelle Maginley-Liddie
2:36:35
Then I would remove that individual from that facility, okay, based on the
Sandy Nurse
2:36:39
allegations.
2:36:41
So do you have an explanation of why someone would be there for a month?
2:36:48
Over a month after getting notified.
Lynelle Maginley-Liddie
2:36:52
So let me just say because I'm an attorney as well.
2:36:55
Even though someone files a lawsuit, it does not necessarily mean that we get notice of the lawsuit at the time of filing.
2:37:02
So upon receiving the lawsuit and reviewing the allegations, then we take steps.
2:37:08
Right?
2:37:08
But not because someone files a lawsuit on a specific day means that we know simultaneously as the case is being filed.
2:37:17
It goes directly to the law department, and then the law department will assign it to the agency.
2:37:22
When I was in the legal division, I personally reviewed all these complaints coming in and assigned the cases to specific attorneys.
2:37:32
If if there was a specific plaintiff in you know, to ensure that the attorney was dealing with those cases with respect to that plaintiff, that one attorney would be assigned to those cases, but it looked at the allegations of the complaint.
2:37:45
If there was an issue, then I would escalate it.
2:37:47
Like, this is this is what this case is saying, and I believe that process is still taking place.
2:37:52
But once once we once the case is filed, we don't necessarily get it right away.
2:37:57
But upon receipt, we take action.
Sandy Nurse
2:38:00
What's an average time?
2:38:02
It's difficult.
2:38:03
Timeline between receiving notification of some kind of accusation to going down to the facility and reassigning that person or taking them off the phone.
James Conroy
2:38:12
Again, we haven't experienced that situation because we haven't had that since the mass filings of the ASA lawsuits.
2:38:19
So we can't give a specific time right now what we anticipate given, again, the robustness of these lawsuits and what's going forward is that it would be immediate.
2:38:27
I would convey that as soon as I receive word of it, we'd convey it to the commissioner, and then, again, we'd take appropriate action.
2:38:33
We can't say, again, retroactively now because that was a unique circumstance.
2:38:37
I will say just along the commissioner's lines.
2:38:39
I I I did this at the NYPD from not not with ASA lawsuits, but I mean lawsuits in general.
2:38:44
There's somewhat of a trend in in the plaintiff's litigation where they will file a lawsuit and serve the officers individually and then wait to serve the law department until a considerable time later in order to start to develop default motions.
2:38:57
And otherwise Mhmm.
2:38:58
So that that creates this weird dynamic of the timing of the filing to when we actually get notice of it.
2:39:04
So but nonetheless, again, going forward, this is our process.
2:39:07
I can't go backwards on these bulk lawsuits.
2:39:10
We we talked about what has happened since then, but this is our processes now since I'm in
Konstantin Yelisavetskiy
2:39:14
play.
Sandy Nurse
2:39:14
Understood.
2:39:15
And and in this instance, which I'm not gonna ask you to speak specifically on, But if we were to come back in a year after maybe some motion has happened and more stuff becomes public, and we were to look at the timeline between when you were notified and when that person was removed from tour, do you think we would be outraged, or we would feel like there was swift action taken?
James Conroy
2:39:38
I I think we'd be transparent about it, though I could say that, again, as the commissioner mentioned, there's a processes to to hash out all allegations.
2:39:47
WE WOULD TAKE ACTION IN CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE WE ALSO DO A REVIEW OURSELVES.
2:39:51
I MEAN, AND AGAIN, WITH IMMEDIOUS.
Sandy Nurse
2:39:53
I'M Just TRYING TO ASK.
2:39:54
I'M ASKING YOU TO
James Conroy
2:39:55
TO IT'S A IT'S A
Sandy Nurse
2:39:56
LIKE, DO YOU THINK WHEN WE FIND OUT How LONG it took between notification and the person being removed, that when we come back and find that out, you think we're gonna be, like, they did their job really well?
James Conroy
2:40:07
I I I I have to tell you chair sometimes it's hard to predict how the council will react to what we do.
2:40:12
We anticipate that we will have
Sandy Nurse
2:40:13
this system sensibly to an accusation of sexual assault.
James Conroy
2:40:17
And that's what I'm saying.
2:40:18
We will we will certainly remain
Sandy Nurse
2:40:19
on the floor.
James Conroy
2:40:20
I'm sorry.
2:40:20
I I I was speaking of you.
2:40:21
Could you repeat that?
Sandy Nurse
2:40:22
What I'm saying is we're we're reacting appropriately.
2:40:25
Okay.
2:40:26
And we would react appropriately.
Donna Hylton
2:40:27
But you're
James Conroy
2:40:27
asking me how you're gonna react in a year.
2:40:29
I can't predict that, but we anticipate that we not anticipate we are implementing the system of me immediacy.
