A class action is now pending in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, Index No. 153312/2018 which was commenced by A’Seelah Diamond and Ruth Britt (Named Plaintiffs) on behalf of themselves and all other persons similarly situated who were tenants of record in buildings owned and managed by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) between October 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018 (the 2017-2018 Heating Season) against NYCHA and Oyeshola Olatoye, in her official capacity as Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of NYCHA (“Defendants”) for damages based on claims that NYCHA breached the warranty of habitability due to heat and hot water outages.

Proposed Settlement

Defendants have agreed to a total Settlement Compensation of $5,000,000 that will be distributed solely in the form of Rent Credits to be shared among the Settlement Class. The full and complete terms of the proposed settlement are contained in a document entitled Stipulation of Class Action Settlement and General Release (“Stipulation”), which is on file with the Court.
A copy of the Stipulation can be accessed at the following here.

Eligibility

Receipt of this Notice does not mean you are a member of the Settlement Class. You are only a member of the Settlement Class and entitled to a Rent Credit if you meet all of the following criteria:

• You are currently a tenant of record in a NYCHA owned and managed building;
• You were a tenant of record in a NYCHA owned and managed building during the 2017- 2018 Heating Season; and
• You experienced at least one heat and/or hot water outage lasting 24 continuous hours or more during the 2017-2018 Heating Season.

Fairness Hearing

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing to decide whether to approve the settlement on August 27, 2024 at 10 a.m. at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, 111 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013 in Courtroom 1166 . Please contact Class Counsel identified below prior to appearing as the location and date of the Fairness Hearing may be subject to change.

More Information

Read the full Notice of Fairness Hearing here in English and Spanish. If you are still not sure whether you are included or have other questions, you can ask for free help by email to: Diamond_v_NYCHA@willkie.com or by First Class mail to:

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Shaimaa Hussein
787 Seventh Avenue
New York, New York 10019
212-728-8000
SHussein@willkie.com 

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP
Mary Eaton
3 World Trade Center
175 Greenwich Street, 51st Floor
New York, NY 10007
212-277-4000
mary.eaton@freshfields.com