City Sues Corrections Officers Union It Blames For Rikers Crisis

NEW YORK CITY — A mounting humanitarian crisis on Rikers Island that claimed 11 lives this year spurred the city to file suit against the jailers union it blames for deteriorating conditions.

In a suit filed in Manhattan's Supreme Court Monday, the city accused the Corrections Officers Benevolent Association of orchestrating a quiet and illegal work slowdown that has lasted months.

"The unlawful campaign of mass absenteeism by correction officers is one of the primary contributors to an emergency circumstance," the lawsuit states.

"[It's] an outright abdication of correction officers' basic responsibilities to protect the health and safety of the individuals housed in their facilities."

But union leaders say Mayor Bill de Blasio is to blame for failing to address concerns over mounting violence, staffing shortages and a growing number of detainees.

“This meritless suit falsely accuses COBA of encouraging our members to commit a job action and to not come to work," union president Benny Boscio Jr. said in a statement.

"If anyone is well-versed in violating the law, it’s our criminally negligent Mayor, who hasn’t done his job for the past eight years."

The lawsuit points to mounting Absent Without Leave rates among corrections officers — which skyrocketed from 645 per month in 2019 to an average of 2,304 per month in 2021 — as evidence of an orchestrated slowdown.

Both New York civil service law and corrections officers' contract render illegal any attempt of Rikers Island officers to purposefully slow work or strike, the suit states.

The lawsuit also contends COBA leadership condoned and encouraged union members to participate in the slowdown as part of a political maneuver against the city.

"There is no plausible explanation for this dramatic increase across the board other than a concerted effort by correction officers to engage in an unlawful job slowdown through mass absenteeism," the suit states. "COBA could, if it chose, end or at least mitigate that job action if various policies are changed to their satisfaction."

But Boscio, at a City Council hearing last week, said increased absenteeism is the result of overwork as the number of Rikers Island officers dropped from 9,000 to 6,000 and detainees increased from 3,400 to 6,000 in just one year.

"In my 22 years as a corrections officer, I have never seen so many officers leave their jobs after just a few years because of the horrific conditions in our jails," Boscio testified.

Corrections officers continue to work triple and quadruple shifts during which they are unable to take breaks for meals or to use the bathroom, Boscio added.

"It's nothing short of inhumane," he said.

This move from the city comes days after the Department of Corrections suspended about 20 AWOL officers in a move to hustle officers back to work, the Daily News reported.

De Blasio said Monday the measure — along with staffing changes — will help the city end triple shifts by October.

"We are fixing the staffing situation with both the aggressive moves to get people to come back to work and by adding additional officers and bringing in outside capacity to support them," he said.
"We know that these efforts together will allow us to end those triple shifts finally."

The lawsuit also follows the deaths of at least 11 detainees — including Karim Isaabdul, 42, who died Sunday morning — whose living conditions Public Advocate Jumaane Williams last week described as "horrors that have become the norm."

In his testimony to City Council, Williams did not shy away from detailing the "horrors" he saw on a recent tour of Rikers Island, which included people using shared bags as toilets, sitting near rotten food and feces, and being locked in showers.

"This city has failed every single person who is detained and works on Rikers Island," Williams concluded.

"And let's remember most of the folks on there have not been found guilty of something - even if they have, they shouldn't be treated this way."