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Q&A
Process for determining and reviewing employee representation in sexual harassment cases
3:25:09
ยท
163 sec
Council Member Restler inquires about the Law Department's process for determining whether to represent employees accused of sexual harassment and reviewing existing representations. Corporation Counsel Goode-Trufant and Managing Attorney Eichenholtz explain the criteria and ongoing review process.
- Representation decisions based on General Municipal Law 50-k, considering scope of employment and agency rule violations
- Ongoing review of representation eligibility as cases progress, especially when new information or agency findings emerge
Lincoln Restler
3:25:09
Can you explain for us the process by which the law department determines whether or not to represent an employee accused of sexual harassment?
Muriel Goode-Trufant
3:25:18
Yes.
3:25:20
I'm going to start and then I'm going to toss it to Eric Eichenhultz.
3:25:26
The start is that we follow the general municipal law 50 k.
3:25:31
And it requires that if an employee is acting in the scope of their employment and is not in violation of an agency rule or regulation that they are entitled to representation.
3:25:48
And so now I pass it to Eric.
Eric Eichenholtz
3:25:53
I think that covers the basics.
3:25:55
Yeah, If you have any specific questions.
Lincoln Restler
3:25:57
Well I guess I'm interest no, I agree.
3:26:00
I think that covers the basics well.
3:26:05
After you became court counsel, did you do a review of the existing employees represented by the law department and a review to ensure that those cases met that standard?
Muriel Goode-Trufant
3:26:18
We have 70,000 cases.
3:26:21
And so what happens in our matters and and and let me hasten to add before I I finish the sentence that the 70,000 is not the number of defendants that we are representing.
3:26:36
There are cases where we represent multiple defendants in each case.
3:26:42
So we may represent more than a million people in various iterations throughout various cases.
3:26:56
As a case progresses, there are always opportunities to review whether the representation protocols have still been met.
3:27:15
The easiest example of such a review is if we are representing someone who after the case started was charged by their agency with misconduct in connection with the case, and that matter was adjudicated at an agency level, and now there is indeed a finding of a violation of agency rules and regulations, we would move to withdraw from representation of that individual.