More than two dozen NYPD officers the department wants to fire over disqualifying information in their preemployment background checks can stay on the job for at least the next two months, a judge in Manhattan ruled Tuesday.
State Supreme Court Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond upheld a temporary restraining order granted last week to the Police Benevolent Association, which has the affect of keeping the officers on the job as the legal fight over their employment status grinds through the courts.
Perry-Bond also kept the status quo for the officers in place, meaning they can continue to be paid and work on restrictive duty desk jobs while their cases are adjudicated. In a conference Tuesday in chambers with lawyers for the PBA and the City Law Department, Perry-Bond gave the union an additional 60 days to file responses to city legal filings, a union spokesman said.
The PBA sued the city and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch last Thursday, asking for the temporary restraining order after the NYPD gave some 31 officers an ultimatum: either resign or be fired. The NYPD maintained that the officers were improperly hired because they had been notified before entering the police academy about issues in their background checks, or psychological tests, warranting disqualification.
During the hearing Tuesday, the city attorneys indicated that a former commanding officer of the police candidate assessment office had hired the officers on his own. PBA attorney Matthew Daly reminded the court that the city had characterized the inspector’s actions as "rogue" and noted the NYPD's ongoing investigation into the matter.
City attorneys argued in court the officers were improperly hired and the inspector did so on his own. The alternative for the officers would be to resign and then reapply for admission to the department, city lawyers maintained.
"But they were hired back," Perry-Jones responded, noting they had been on the job for several months.
The judge also said the officers had in some cases given up other employment opportunities to join the NYPD.
Before the hearing and outside the courthouse, PBA president Patrick Hendry, in the company of officials from two other police fraternal organizations, the Hispanic Society and Guardians Association, an organization of black officers, said that of the 30 officers whose jobs are at risks, 26 are either Black or Hispanic.
After Perry-Jones ruled to keep the temporary restraining order in place, Hendry expressed gratitude.
"We are grateful to the judge for taking this case seriously, understanding that these are 31 police officers lives, that she understands they have families, understands they have bills," Hendry said.
While the city originally put the number of affected officers at 31, union officials said that number dropped to 30 because of a resignation of one person.