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Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, Jr. speaks during a news conference in Albany last week. The state Attorney General’s Office accuses Espada of siphoning $14 million from a clinic that has received state grants. AP Images
ALBANY — New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has again sued state Sen. Pedro Espada, claiming he and his son are violating state labor laws and shortchanging workers through a sham job training program.
The suit says the senator and Pedro G. Espada created a for-profit management company to siphon money from their nonprofit health centers in the Bronx. Cuomo says company workers are mislabeled as trainees, who get little training and are paid less than the law requires, some about $1.70 an hour.
The state minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.
“This was a sham job training program pure and simple with workers receiving no training and getting virtually no jobs,” said Cuomo.
At the end of the program, trainees received a “Certificate of Completion of Healthcare Maintenance Internship.” The certificates were signed by Pedro G. Espada and were “for Fulfillment of JCAHO standards maintenance training program.”
The lawsuit alleges that these certificates are worthless and misleading. The initials “JCAHO” on the certificate stand for the “Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.” That organization knew nothing of the Espadas’ program, did not authorize its name to any such program, did not provide or publish standards for janitorial services that might be the subject of a training program, and has no curriculum whatsoever that would support such a program.
According to the AG’s Office, at least 100 workers have been victimized since 2005.
The Realtors Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors, recently announced first quarter grant awards totaling $37,000 to local nonprofit organizations.
The foundation supports charitable organizations that help to increase affordable home ownership opportunities, build healthy neighborhoods or mitigate critical housing needs.
NeighborWorks Rochester was given $30,000 to continue its Healthy Blocks partnership in the Main/Atlantic neighborhood, known as “The Pocket.” The initiative targets transitional neighborhoods to train community leadership, improve housing stock through neighborhood clean-ups and provide low-interest loans for home improvements.
GRAR members have donated hundreds of hours to conduct community surveys, plant gardens and build community leaders. Healthy Block efforts made in other Rochester area neighborhoods, most notably in Swillburg, have resulted in higher levels of owner-occupancy and greater home values.
The Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network received $5,000 for its Homeless Family Emergency Housing Fund. RAIHN is largely a volunteer organization that works to increase the quality of life for homeless families in Rochester. Since 2004, 90 percent of the families RAIHN placed in housing remained for at least a year.
Providence Housing Development Corp.’s “Financial Literacy Program” was awarded $2,000 to support its Financial Literacy Program, which teaches tenants better management of day-to-day expenses and helps them to prepare for long-term goals, including home ownership.
For more information about the foundation visit www.rfoundation.org.
