ITHACA, N.Y. — Progressive activists and council members are leading a push in the City of Ithaca to require employers to have a “just cause” before firing workers.
The proposal would end at-will employment in the City of Ithaca, which allows employers to terminate an employee without providing a warning or a reason. If the law is passed as-is, it would be enforced through an appointed volunteer commission and Ithaca would be the first city in New York state with a just-cause law on the books that applies to all workers.
Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo announced Wednesday that Ithaca’s Common Council will form a working group to hone a concrete proposal.
The draft proposal was brought forward by Alderpersons Kayla Matos and Phoebe Brown, and has a broad coalition of support behind it, including the Tompkins County Working Families Party and the Tompkins County Workers Center, under the banner of the Ithaca Just Cause Coalition.
Advocates have already put significant energy into promoting the campaign for a just-cause law in Ithaca. Supporters held a rally, a town hall and have launched a website promoting the policy in all in the last two weeks.
Cantelmo declined to comment on the draft proposal brought forward by advocates because he had not yet read it. It was only distributed to council Wednesday. Cantelmo cautioned that the proposal advocates and some council members are supporting does not represent legislation that the city will adopt.
“An individual council member’s ideas or aspirations around this is not yet reflective of any legislation the city would be taking up. It’s just one perspective,” Cantelmo said. “I wouldn’t even call it a proposal until it comes out of the working group.”
Cantelmo said that whatever proposal the working group brings forward will need to reflect the city’s legal authority.
“I know that there’s a lot of interest in exploring what labor protections we might be able to further in the community,” Cantelmo said. “All of those need to be contextualized with our capacity and our legal authority under federal and New York state law. And the working group will bring forward a proposal that comports with those parameters.”
There is some precedent for a city wide just-cause law: a federal court upheld a 2020 New York City law that provides just-cause protections to fast food workers.
Differences between Ithaca and New York City’s just-cause law are where opponents of the law might find the grounds for a legal challenge, according to Cornell ILR professor Gali Racabi.
“[T]he closer the proposal is to the NYC fast food law, the less legal risks it faces, and the more allies those advocates have in defending against new, unforeseen challenges,” Racabi said via email.
Racabi said that if the city were to adopt a just-cause law with the same kind of structure and wording as the New York City law it would be “really hard to image a strong legal claim against it.”
After reviewing the draft proposal, Racabi added that it “doesn’t seem complete. It appears that there’s a missing section, and the language still feels like a draft.”
Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) professor Lee Adler said that he believed a legal challenge to Ithaca’s law is likely — regardless of its merit.
“I would surely believe no matter what’s in the legislation, if they’re trying to end employment at will in the city of Ithaca, somebody will challenge it,” Adler said.
While a lawsuit may be likely, advocates have emphasized the strong precedent
“This is a much clearer picture than you often have, when cities are considering adopting legislation, because the same type of ordinance has already been challenged and upheld,” said Paul Sonn, State Policy Program Director at the National Employment Law Project.
Sonn’s organization drafted the model legislation upon which the Ithaca proposal is based. Ithaca’s draft law goes further than the New York City law — it requires employers to give severance pay to employees fired for reasons other than egregious misconduct or failure to perform job duties. It also limits employers ability to use electronic monitoring to evaluate employee performance and speed using video and audio surveillance.
Both of these aspects of the proposal are within the City of Ithaca’s authority to regulate, according to Sonn. He cited a New York City law upheld in federal court that requires businesses to provide severance pay to hotel workers, and another New York City law that regulates the use of algorithms and monitoring that was never challenged in court — although appears to be largely unenforced.
The Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, a local business advocacy group with around 700 members, is currently reviewing the proposal.
“[We] will be seeking feedback from our members before taking any action,” Tompkins Chamber President Jennifer Tavares said. “As with any new proposal, we urge local elected officials to gather input from all kinds of stakeholders, and ensure they have a well-rounded policy and enforcement plan prior to passing any new regulations.”
There appears to be broader interest in enacting some form of just-cause protections on council. In addition to Matos and Brown, Alderpersons Tiffany Kumar, Clyde Lederman and Patrick Kuehl said they want to see a just-cause law in the city.
“I support just cause in the city of Ithaca, definitely. I think that it’s a good starting place. And I think we’re gonna have to do some adjustments to fit Ithaca specifically,” Kuehl said. “But that’s why I think this working group is going to be so great.”
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