BROOKLYN, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) — Non-profit corporations are suing Suffolk County and county officials, alleging violation of state and federal law.
American Apparel & Footwear Association Inc., Halloween Industry Association Inc., Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association Inc, and Toy Industry Association, Inc. (individually and doing business as Safe to Play Coalition) filed a lawsuit Oct. 14 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against the county of Suffolk, County Executive Steve Bellone and County Commissioner James L. Tomarken, alleging illegal enforcement of a local law banning the sale of products which contains six specified substances.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs suffered economic damages due to a local law that prevents them from doing business in Suffolk County. The plaintiffs allege the defendants enforced a local law that violates a federal law that already regulates hazardous exposure to harmful substances.
The plaintiffs seek to declare that the Suffolk County code violates the supremacy clause, declare that the code violates the New York Constitution, an injunction against the defendants, all legal fees and all other relief the court deems just. They are represented by attorneys Frederick Locker of Locker Greenberg & Brainin LLP in New York, and by Jeremy D. Richardson of Phillips Nizer LLP in New York.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York Case number 2:16-cv-05758-DRH-AYS