CSEA lawsuit challenges Onondaga County over long-term care scheme

SYRACUSE, NY (02/13/2013)(readMedia)-- CSEA – New York's leading union – has filed a lawsuit against Onondaga County, challenging the transfer of the county's public nursing home, the Van Duyn Home & Hospital, to a local development corporation – a non-regulated shell corporation that has little oversight and no accountability to taxpayers.

CSEA, which represents public nursing home workers throughout the state, has publicly argued that local development corporations should not be used to allow municipalities to skirt regulations designed to protect taxpayers or to avoid public scrutiny or opposition to the sale of publicly owned nursing homes.

The Van Duyn Home & Hospital is Onondaga County's 513-bed long-term care facility. The case was filed in State Supreme Court in Syracuse.

The suit alleges that Onondaga County violated Not-for-Profit Corporations Law through the sale of necessary property and that the county legislature exceeded their authority by abolishing Van Duyn's work force in the county budget, which essentially eliminates the county department of Long Term Care Services, established under county charter. CSEA believes that action, which will lead to the layoff of about 500 county employees later this year, also constitutes bad faith bargaining.

"Onondaga County can do better for the current and future residents of Van Duyn, let alone the people who care for them and the county taxpayers," said CSEA President Danny Donohue. "There is a responsibility to ensure that care will be there for our seniors. This scheme is, at best, deceptive and puts future care at risk while still keeping taxpayers on the hook."

The Onondaga County action is a glaring example of a disturbing recent trend where counties have flaunted legal obligations, circumvented normal open meeting requirements, and engaged in irregular bidding practices. Many of these actions appear to be attempts to minimize scrutiny and public input. CSEA is alarmed that these actions also seek quick political fixes at the long-term expense of people and communities.

This is CSEA's first legal action involving the transfer of public nursing facility operations to a local development corporation, but several other counties are considering similar schemes.

"CSEA has tried to get local officials to do what's right by making our argument in the court of public opinion," Donohue said. "We will not hesitate to take our case to the judicial system whenever necessary."

-30-