Cuomo's office abusing power through coronavirus closures: Lawsuit

A Western New York law firm has accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state's attorney general of abusing their power in ordering further novel coronavirus closures of their business despite that it was deemed essential and therefore allowed to continue in-office operations, a recent lawsuit states.

HoganWillig PLLC, a law firm with several offices throughout the state’s western region, sued Cuomo and Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday after receiving a cease and desist order on April 20 calling on the firm to “implement a work plan to reduce the number of employees reporting to” one of the company’s offices, and transition to the remote-work model, according to the lawsuit, which was shared online by Law360.

But the firm was told in a March 22 email from the New York State Department of Economic Development that its function “is an essential business and/or supports an essential business and is not subject to the required 100% workforce reduction pursuant to the revised Executive Order 202.6,” court papers show.