Politics & Government

Parents Plan to Sue Bloomberg for $100 Million Over Cathie Black Appointment

Class action suit goes after Bloomberg personally for 'misfeasance of office'; City Hall dismisses move as publicity ploy.

Cathie Black may be gone, but parents, students and teachers are still suffering from the damage she caused during her brief tenure as schools chancellor – and the mayor should pay.

Or at least that's what a group of public school parents are claiming in a $100 million lawsuit they plan to file against Mayor Michael Bloomburg, personally. A Notice of Claim for the suit was filed today. 

The suit is led Chris Owens, District Leader of Brooklyn's 52nd Assembly District and one of 14 petitioners It claims that Bloomberg was guilty of “misfeasance of office” in appointing Black because he should have known it wasn't  "in the best interests of the system."

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The group is demanding the money from Bloomberg's personal coffers – plus a personal apology.  

“The reality here is that the mayor preceded incompetently,” said Owens, explaining that there was no national search (or any other "rational process") for the appointment. 

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“If you see an incompetent act, and you have recourse under the law, why should we not step up and take advantage of it?” he added.

Owens said that Bloomberg should have no trouble paying out the $100 million plaintiffs are asking for, given he spent the same amount on his mayoral campaign.

 “How do you put a value on the education of 1.1 million kids?" he added. "We feel that the damage was significant.”

But City Hall dismissed the litigation as a publicity ploy.

“This suit so lacks merit, it’s not even worth me commenting,” said Kate O’Brien-Ahlers, press director for the New York City Law Department.

Even Owens admited that one of the suit’s primary purposes is to make a point. He said that the mayor’s “incompetence” should have more of a consequence than “a couple of days of bad press.”

“This is really a message for the next mayor,” he said.

The Notice of Claim was filed with the Office of New York City Comptroller John Liu by 14 parents and the newly formed New York City Parents Union on behalf of all New York City public school parents.

The money would be used for teacher development and training “as compensation for the damage to the morale and performance of staff," according a news release from Advocates for Justice, the public interest law firm filing the suit.


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