We receive many inquiries about filing a lawsuit against ACS. It is important to note that suing ACS is suing the City of New York. This is a highly complicated process and we advise that you obtain an attorney if you plan to sue. Attorneys can either take the case on a percentage basis or you must pay them by the hour to work on your case. And in New York City, hourly rates can be over $350.00 an hour. As you can see this can get very expensive. Also NYC has something called qualified immunity. Generally, governmental actions that require the exercise of discretion but are not judicial or quasi-judicial are entitled to “qualified immunity,” meaning that they are immune from liability unless performed in bad faith or without a reasonable basis. Signature Health Ctr., LLC v. State, 28 Misc. 3d 543, 902 N.Y.S.2d 893 (Ct. Cl. 2010), aff’d, 92 A.D.3d 11, 935 N.Y.S.2d 357 (2011). Qualified immunity’s function is to protect government officials from liability for damages when performing discretionary duties as long as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Alex LL. v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs. of Albany Cty., 60 A.D.3d 199, 872 N.Y.S.2d 569 (2009).
We are often asked by parents; how do I file a complaint against the abusive ACS worker. The first thing we advise is not to file an complaints with anyone at ACS. ACS supervisors are there to protect their paychecks and their jobs. They will usually stone wall the parent into giving up. The goal of the ACS supervisors is to ensure that the parents follow the demands of ACS. Also, we do not suggest filing a complaint with any local political office. ACS is so dysfunctional that they are immune to any political pressure of any kind. Mayor Deblasio has failed to correct the problems at ACS and the agency is simply on cruise control with no one in control. The most effective way to file a complaint against an ACS worker is to file suit in federal court. This will get the workers attention and take them out of their comfort zone. We urge parents to obtain an attorney as fast as possible and begin the process of a lawsuit. The federal courts are a neutral place for parents to bring
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