Teresa DeFonso, Attorney-in-Charge of The Legal Aid Society’s Staten Island Neighborhood Office, applauded Civil Court Administrative Judge Anthony Cannataro’s dismissal of 40 cases in Staten Island’s housing court in which eviction notices sent to tenants featured the phrase “Chinese Wuhan virus emergency.”

Asian American civil rights groups have condemned such references to the coronavirus pandemic as derogatory and dangerous, as reported by Law360.

DeFonso contacted Supervising Housing Court Judge Jean T. Schneider on Wednesday after a colleague notified her of the issue, remarking that they were “incredibly offensive.”

“I asked the court to have these cases dismissed, and I want to give the court a ton of credit,” DeFonso said. “They reacted very swiftly. I think they took absolutely the right action.”