His Quirk-y suit Union boss sues court system over COVID

The head of the state court officers’ union is suing the agency that runs New York’s court system, alleging the response to the coronavirus pandemic was inadequate and put staff at risk.

Dennis Quirk, the outspoken head of the New York State Court Officers Association, filed the suit in Manhattan Federal Court late Wednesday. In the suit against the Office of Court Administration and Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, the union boss alleged it failed to supply proper protective gear to employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As a result of the failure of defendants to provide PPE to union members and properly sterilize work areas within the court system, union members have been, and continue to be, exposed to COVID-19 and have in fact contracted coronavirus and have died as result of said failure,” Quirk’s suit says.

Quirk (inset) says his own union has been purchasing and mixing hand sanitizer from a local distillery and gives the sanitizer out to officers around the state.

“The chief judge is attempting to shut the union down regarding our complaints of the unsafe and dangerous conditions that exist in every courthouse in NYC in that the courthouses are not being cleaned properly,” Quirk said.

The suit comes after Quirk has slammed OCA’s response to the pandemic for months, claiming the agency has done little to protect workers. “There is a shortage of hand sanitizer, paper towels, and masks. Locker rooms are not being CLEANED PROPERLY EVERY DAY,” Quirk wrote to OCA brass back on March 12, according to an internal email obtained by the Daily News. More than 100 court officers have been sickened by coronavirus symptoms statewide, with at least 45 testing positive for the disease. The virus has also taken the lives of two Brooklyn judges and a court officer.

The lawsuit also alleges that OCA has tried to “silence” Quirk in his position as court officer union president.

“Defendants undertook a course of conduct … to silence Dennis W. Quirk by threatening him with disciplinary action, seeking to infringe upon his advocacy for his members, infringe upon his right to free speech,” the suit claims, referring to an investigation by OCA’s inspector general into Quirk.

Quirk told the Daily News the investigation is over allegations he tried to “intimidate” DiFiore based on emails he sent her recently. The union president had to show up to be interviewed by the IG last week.

An OCA spokesman declined to comment on any investigation into Quirk.