Shaw v. Baldowski

192 Misc. 2d 635, 747 N.Y.S.2d 136, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 835
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJune 25, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 192 Misc. 2d 635 (Shaw v. Baldowski) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shaw v. Baldowski, 192 Misc. 2d 635, 747 N.Y.S.2d 136, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 835 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Joseph R. Cannizzaro, J.

This action arises out of an alleged disruptive coworker relationship between plaintiff Cynthia Shaw and defendant Gregory Baldowski who both work for the defendant New York State Department of Audit and Control. The State defendants (hereinafter the State), who consist of Baldowski, the State of New York, the Office of the State Comptroller, the New York State Department of Audit and Control, Bruce Feig, Elaine Penn, Howard Rice, Alfred D’Alauro, Paul Capobianco, Marge Vrooman and Mark Bristol, move for an order dismissing plaintiff’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th causes of action pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7) for the failure to state a cause of action, pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (1) on grounds of a defense founded upon documentary evidence, pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (2) on grounds that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction due to the exclusivity of the Workers’ Compensation Law as a remedy for plaintiff’s alleged workplace injuries, and pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (3) on grounds that plaintiff lacks the legal capacity to maintain the action. In the alternative, the State moves pursuant to CPLR 3211 (c) and 3212 (e) for partial summary judgment in its favor on said causes of action.

[637]*637Defendants Civil Service Employees Association, Inc., Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Georgianna Natale, as president of CSEA Local 651, and Clarence Russell, as vice-president of CSEA Local 651 (hereinafter collectively referred to as CSEA), cross-move pursuant to CPLR 3212 (e) for an order granting it partial summary judgment on plaintiffs 7th cause of action to the extent that it alleges and seeks a declaratory judgment that plaintiff has been subjected to a violation of workplace health and safety laws.

Plaintiff opposes both motions to a limited degree. In consideration of the State’s motion, plaintiff withdraws her 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th causes of action in their entirety. In addition, plaintiff withdraws her 8th cause of action to the extent it alleges a private right of action for violations of state and federal health and safety statutes and regulations including New York Labor Law §§ 27-a and 200, the regulations thereunder at 12 NYCRR 800.3, and 29 USC § 654 et seq., and the regulations thereunder at 29 CFR 1910.141 et seq. Plaintiff also withdraws her 9th cause of action for retaliation to the extent it alleges a private right of action for violations of state and federal statutes including Labor Law § 27-a (10) and 29 USC § 660 (c), and to the extent it alleges a claim under New York Civil Service Law § 75-b against the individually named State defendants. Moreover, in response to CSEA’s motion, plaintiff has clarified that her 7th cause of action only alleges that CSEA breached its duty of fair representation to plaintiff as a union member under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) by refusing or failing to make grievances about defendant Baldowski and alleged health and safety violations on her behalf. To the extent that CSEA premised its motion on the belief that plaintiff was alleging that CSEA violated the same state and federal health and safety statutes and regulations as alleged in her 8th cause of action against the State, plaintiff states that she has not made such a claim.

In view of plaintiffs withdrawals, the court shall address what remains of the motions. First, in regard to CSEA’s motion for summary judgment, the court notes that CSEA specifically seeks the dismissal of the allegations contained in paragraphs 86 and 104 of plaintiffs 7th cause of action which allege that CSEA violated the same state and federal health and safety statutes and regulations referred to in plaintiffs 8th cause of action against the State. CSEA also seeks the dismissal of the remedy requested in subparagraph (e) of the wherefore clause of the 7th cause of action which seeks a [638]*638declaratory judgment that plaintiff has been subjected to CSEA’s violations of workplace safety and health standards. In view of plaintiff’s statement that she is not making a claim that CSEA violated any health and safety statutes and regulations, the court finds that CSEA is entitled to summary judgment striking paragraphs 86 and 104 of the complaint to the extent they can be read as alleging that plaintiff was harmed by CSEA’s “breaches” or “violations” of any alleged health and safety statutes and regulations. These paragraphs shall remain to the extent that they allege that CSEA breached the CBA by refusing or failing to file grievances on plaintiff’s behalf due to the State’s violations of health and safety statutes and regulations. Furthermore, the court finds that CSEA is also entitled to summary judgment striking subparagraph (e) of the wherefore clause in its entirety.

However, recognizing that plaintiff’s 7th cause of action alleges a claim that CSEA breached its duty of fair representation to plaintiff under the CBA, the court notes that CSEA does not move or set forth any grounds for the dismissal of the claim. Rather, CSEA requests that upon the court’s resolution of the State’s motion, if it appears that it is entitled to summary judgment, that CSEA be granted such judgment without the necessity of making a cross motion pursuant to CPLR 3212 (b). Therefore, CSEA’s motion for partial summary judgment is granted at this juncture only to the extent stated above and plaintiff’s 7th cause of action for breach of duty of fair representation remains for the moment.

In regard to the State’s motion, the court notes that plaintiff’s 8th cause of action now alleges only that the State breached section 15.1 of the CBA between CSEA and the State of New York Administrative Services Unit. More particularly, plaintiff alleges that section 15.1 guarantees safe and healthy working conditions for employees and guarantees that the State will work with employees to abate unsafe and unhealthy conditions in the workplace. Plaintiff further alleges that section 15.1 requires the State to adhere to state and federal health and safety statutes and regulations. Therefore, plaintiff alleges that the State breached section 15.1, when it violated the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Standards contained in 29 CFR 1910.141 et seq. (OSHA regulations) as adopted by the State Public Employees’ Occupational Health and Safety Standards (PESHA regulations) at 12 NYCRR 800.3, by failing to prevent and correct the unhealthy and unsafe workplace conditions caused by defendant Baldowski’s offensive conduct [639]*639and foul smells, odors and discharge of human waste. Plaintiff alleges that the State defendants owed plaintiff a duty under CBA § 15.1, 12 NYCRR 800.3 and 29 CFR 1910.141 et seq. to keep and maintain separate and sanitary toilet rooms for employee use. Despite having actual knowledge of the severity of Baldowski’s offensive conduct and person, plaintiff alleges that the State defendants have failed or refused to remedy the situation. As a result, plaintiff alleges that she has suffered severe health and economic injuries.

In support of dismissal of plaintiffs 8th cause of action, the State contends that plaintiff has failed to state a cause of action because no private right of action is conferred upon plaintiff for breach of CBA § 15.1.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
192 Misc. 2d 635, 747 N.Y.S.2d 136, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 835, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shaw-v-baldowski-nysupct-2002.