Recently in New York Category

Legal Services NYC today filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court on behalf of low-income New Yorkers who have been denied access to vital benefits, such as Food Stamps and Medicaid, solely because they cannot communicate in English, despite a city law requiring the Human Resources Administration (HRA) to provide translation and interpretation services to these individuals. The lawsuit alleges widespread civil rights violations at HRA centers across the five boroughs.

Five years ago, the New York City Council passed The Equal Access to Human Services Act of 2003 (Local Law 73), which mandates the provision of translation and interpretation services at HRA centers. Legal Services NYC has actively monitored HRA's compliance with this law over the past five years, documenting the way in which limited English proficient (LEP) clients are routinely denied services at their HRA centers while applying for benefits or while simply attempting to maintain them.

In 2007, Legal Services NYC, after continuing to see non-English speaking clients routinely denied access to HRA services, surveyed all 69 centers to monitor compliance with the law. Survey results demonstrated that legally mandated translated applications were not available at 66% of HRA centers and that fewer than two-thirds of the centers had interpreter services available in the most commonly spoken languages of the community, as legally required, for LEP individuals. Since the survey results were released in 2007, Legal Services NYC has continued to monitor and report access problems to HRA. HRA has failed to adequately resolve these reported problems. The lawsuit filed today seeks to compel HRA to immediately comply with the law and to end its discriminatory treatment of non-English speaking New Yorkers.

Mercedes Cruz is an LEP mother of three who is one of six plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Ms. Cruz's native language is Spanish, the second most commonly spoken language in the city and a language spoken by over 2 million New York City residents, and she and her family subsist entirely on Public Assistance Benefits. However, since 2007, when she opened her Public Assistance case, HRA's Income Maintenance Center #63 - Coney Island has failed to provide her with a Spanish interpreter at any of her appointments despite her repeated requests. The majority of the documents Ms. Cruz receives from Center #63, including notices that her benefits are being discontinued and notifications of upcoming appointments, are entirely in English. In March 2009, Ms. Cruz went to Center #63 with a letter from her attorney explaining that she was limited English proficient and that the Center was legally required to provide a Spanish interpreter. The Center refused to provide her with an interpreter. Despite Ms. Cruz's attorney's request that the Center's Language Liaison pair Ms. Cruz with a Spanish-speaking caseworker, she is currently assigned to a caseworker who speaks only English. Because she does not understand all of the documents she receives from the Center and all communications she has with Center staff, Ms. Cruz's Public Assistance case has repeatedly been sanctioned and erroneously discontinued.

"Five years ago Mayor Bloomberg proudly signed a landmark civil rights law ensuring equal access to all HRA services. Today, despite a significant investment of taxpayer dollars, HRA is still routinely denying vital services to the most vulnerable New Yorkers in flagrant violation of law. Enough is enough. We call on HRA to immediately remedy its widespread discriminatory treatment of limited English proficient New Yorkers," said Amy Taylor, Language Access Project Coordinator at Legal Services NYC.

"Local Law 73 is the result of modern-day civil rights legislation, and New York's language access laws are a model to localities across the nation. The City's failure to provide the most basic services to all New Yorkers is not only discriminatory and illegal but a stain on our reputation as an international destination and capital of the world. We must treat all New Yorkers with the dignity and respect they deserve," said New York City Council Member John C. Liu, primary sponsor of The Equal Access to Human Services Act of 2003.

"New York City is the most multicultural and multilingual city in the country and must serve as an example of equal access. With HRA programs like food stamps and Medicaid, New Yorkers depend on language assistance in government for the basic necessities of life. HRA must act now to provide essential translations and interpreters in compliance with the law to meet the needs of all New Yorkers," said Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer.

"In order to best serve the richly diverse population of New York City, it is vital that appropriate translation services are offered to all people when accessing public benefits. This lawsuit serves as an important reminder to the challenges many New Yorkers face when trying to access assistance," said New York City Council Member Annabel Palma.

"Every week we see families and individuals facing emergencies such as evictions due to unpaid rent, utility shut- offs or hunger because they either did not understand a request that was written only in English or because they cannot communicate with City workers due to their limited English proficiency. These families cannot get help because the City's failure to provide them with translation and interpretation services prevents them from applying for or fully understanding the benefits available to them. Increasing barriers to service because of a lack of translation leaves an already vulnerable population even more burdened," said Jennifer Vallone, the Director of Project Home at University Settlement, which referred LEP clients to Legal Services NYC as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Source: Legal Services NYC

When New York State and City agreed on July 20th to repay the federal government nearly $540 million to settle whistleblower-sparked Medicaid false claims allegations, it ended a lone whistleblower's long struggle to correct speech therapy billing problems in an upstate New York county and across the state. When improper billing wasn't corrected, the whistleblower sued on behalf of the federal government under the qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act ("FCA"), New York City qui tam whistleblower attorney David A. Koenigsberg of Menz Bonner & Komar LLP revealed.

"The information and cooperation that my client provided led directly to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' audits that ultimately confirmed the state-wide billing problems that are the subject of this historic settlement," Koenigsberg said.

"As a result, New York State and City agreed to pay the seventh largest whistleblower settlement in the largest government False Claims Act Medicaid case in United States history," Koenigsberg added. "The value of whistleblower law in repatriating federal dollars back to United States taxpayers should be crystal clear."

An April 2000 report by the former U.S. General Accounting Office, now called the Government Accountability Office, stated that Illinois, Michigan, and New York accounted for more than 60 percent of total school-based medical claims, while New York accounted for 44 percent of that total. When the Inspector General's audits were released New York officials loudly criticized the agency's methodology and conclusions. With today's settlement the city and state did not admit liability, nor did the federal government concede that its claims were not well founded.

Under the agreement settling allegations of improperly billed pre-school and older students' speech, physical and occupational therapy, psychological counseling and transportation over a seven-year period, New York State will pay approximately $331,879,000 and allow the federal government to retain approximately $108,000,000 of nearly $303,000,000 it withheld for questionable billing during a seven-year period ending in December 2008. New York City will pay $100,000,000.

Additionally, New York State agreed to enter into a "Program Compliance Agreement" with the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") governing the manner in which the state Department of Education offers future School and Preschool Supportive Health Services Programs. This agreement is believed to be the first of its kind between the federal government and a state or local government. It is similar to Corporate Integrity Agreements reached with private entities settling Medicaid fraud allegations.

"Billions and billions of stimulus, bailout, TARP and related recovery dollars are being pumped into the economy now by the federal government. In the years to come, the money-saving value of the False Claims Act and concerned-citizen qui tam whistleblowers who step forward to do the right thing will be proven again and again," John Menz, name partner of Koenigsberg's firm predicted.

Federal lawsuits unsealed in the United States District for the Northern District of New York with the settlement:

98-CV-1929 (TJM) (DEP), U.S. ex rel. Cirrincione v. Larry D. Tingley, et al.; and 99 CV 2082 (TJM) (DEP), U.S. ex rel.. Cirrincione v. Thomas Hamel, et al.

The complete Menz Bonner & Komar LLP news release will be posted athttp://www.PRforLAW.com and on a new Menz Bonner & Komar LLP Web site to be launched in the near future.

SOURCE Menz Bonner & Komar LLP

In July, a New York based hip- hop artist got into a brawl with bouncers of a Tempe bar that left him with a broken eye- socket. Michael Aguilar, who performs under the name of 'Double- O', is suing Club Peso, the corporation that owns Cherry Lounge & Pit on Mill Avenue for damages that cover medical expenses and lost income..
Albert Flores, a Phoenix based attorney who is representing the singer stated that they expected the court to award Aguilar $500,000 to $1 million in damages.
In July, Aguilar and his band mate Jabari Evans better known by his stage name 'Naledge', had just finished their show at the bar when Aguilar got into a confrontation with a bouncer over a bottle of vodka. The fight which was caught on tape by a photographer hired for the event started with Aguilar pinning a bouncer to the floor. He was later pulled off by other bouncers who then proceeded to hit him with closed fists on his face resulting in damage to his eye socket.
Tempe police charged Aguilar with misdemeanour assault and disorderly conduct. On reaching home in New York, Aguilar did community service to avoid going to court. His charges were subsequently dropped.
Aguilar alleges that he still suffers from the injuries he received that night. He had to undergo surgery to heal his eye and plastic surgery to repair his face. Flores stated that his medical expenses came to around $70,000 and that he missed several concerts while he was recovering.

A woman of the Sikh religious sect from India who allegedly suffered racial, religious and sexual harassment at her work place won a civil case against her former employers recently. After a three year legal battle Sukhbir Kaur, reached a settlement agreement with her former employers which also included a clause that forced them to change their employment policies.
The National Wholesale Liquidators (NWL) agreed to make changes to their employment policies that would rid the company of discrimination and pay monetary damages to Kaur and eight other victims of harassment worth $255,000.
Kaur alleged that her manager harassed her because she was a Sikh, a woman and an Indian. He told her on several occasions to remover her traditional turban because she would 'look sexier' without it.

Three former workers who sued the LIRR for exposing them to dangerous substances in hellish conditions without any warning or protection have been awarded $ 16.4 million in damages. The three men suffer from asbestosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. They said they had unknowingly breathed air contaminated by asbestos fibers for years.

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