The lawsuit alleges that the defendants fraudulently induced the plaintiffs into taking part in a fake employment training program.
When developer Bruce Ratner announced Atlantic Yards in December, 2003, neighborhood residents immediately objected that by demolishing residential buildings, the project would evict tenants and drive out homeowners and small businesses.
In a move calculated to subvert protest and conquer local politicians, Atlantic Yards developers entered into a so-called ‘Community Benefits Agreement’ (‘CBA’), promising jobs and other benefits, with a bunch of cardboard "community organizations", including BUILD, created solely for purposes of negotiating the CBA.
Among other things, the CBA promised that Atlantic Yards would create a Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program’ (‘PATP’), in partnership with BUILD, to train community residents for construction jobs at Atlantic Yards.
Plaintiffs joined the PATP in the fall of 2010 -- several even quit their jobs to do so. They were repeatedly assured by the developers that, by completing the program, they would earn membership in construction unions employed at Atlantic Yards.
Not only did those jobs never materialize, the plaintiffs found themselves press-ganged onto a demolition crew, doing back-breaking labor without pay.
The plaintiffs allege violations of the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York State Labor Law, as well as fraud, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment from their unpaid labor.
Source:
SBLS Files Federal Lawsuit Against Brooklyn Developer Over Lack of Union Jobs at Atlantic Yards,” South Brooklyn Legal Services.
More from the Daily News.
No comments:
Post a Comment