Roberts v. New York City Office of Collective Bargaining

OPINION OF THE COURT

Richter, J.

This appeal raises the question of whether the New York City Fire Department’s “zero tolerance” policy, requiring automatic termination of certain emergency medical services (EMS) employees who fail or refuse to provide a specimen for a drug test, should have been subject to mandatory collective bargaining. The New York City Board of Collective Bargaining (the Board) found that this issue was not required to be bargained, and unions representing the employees brought this CPLR article 78 proceeding. We now uphold the Board’s decision because the New York City…