Stand with Candice! BDS Union Member Needs Our Support!

Candice Davis, beloved Brooklyn Defenders Services employee, needs our support. Candice was abruptly and unjustly terminated without notice in June. She needs funds to stay afloat and cover rent and healthcare costs. Please donate once or monthly to support Candice in our fight for her job!

What happened?

In early June, Candice unexpectedly lost a dear family member. Though they were not blood related, they were sisters in every sense of the word. Candice, while in shock and grieving, requested 5 days of family bereavement leave.

When management asked for documentation to approve the bereavement time, Candice submitted the obituary she wrote for the family and edited the obituary to indicate that Candice was part of the surviving family. She did this to make sure she was approved under management's strict biological family member requirement for bereavement time. In a state of grief, Candice admits that she made a mistake by trying to get days approved under the biological family member rule.

Here’s the catch: At the time, Candice was not aware that she could ask for discretionary bereavement leave, which you can use for non-biological losses. This means she was entitled to at least some of the bereavement time she requested.

On the third day back at work, HR called Candice into a meeting and demanded that she explain why she submitted an altered obituary. They then told her she would be fired with no severance for altering the obituary. Candice went above and beyond for BDS clients and staff over the last five years. When management callously fired her, they acted completely contrary to the values that public defenders seek to uphold.

For the past two and a half months, Candice has been on unpaid leave. Losing her income and facing the imminent loss of her family’s health insurance has been incredibly stressful for Candice. She needs our support now more than ever.

What now?

Candice and the Brooklyn Defenders Services union are fighting through the grievance process to get her job back. Recently we learned that management refuses to reinstate Candice on any terms, so the next step is binding arbitration, demanding that Candice be reinstated. This will be a long process and Candice needs funds now to cover rent and healthcare costs. Please donate once or monthly to support Candice in her fight for her job!