FAQs

If you receive an official legal document regarding the college through the mail, you should mark the date and time of receipt on the envelope, sign your name on the envelope, and have all the documents delivered immediately to the Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations. Examples include subpoenas requiring Baruch College to produce copies of records in court proceedings, summonses notifying the College that a lawsuit has been commenced against it, notices of bankruptcy, and notices informing the College of its right to participate in consumer class action suits.

If a “process server” attempts to hand-deliver an official legal document to you, you should inform the process server that you do not have authority to accept service of the document on behalf of the College, and that the document should be delivered instead to the Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations, 137 East 22nd Street, Room C-312 and/or sent to lisa.hochstadt@baruch.cuny.edu and sabina.pringle@baruch.cuny.edu. If, however, a “process server” attempts to hand-deliver to you an official legal document that names you as a defendant, you should accept service and then forward the document to the Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations.

Federal law requires that special procedures be followed when the College receives a subpoena or other request for educational records concerning individual students. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides that, with certain exceptions, educational records may not be disclosed to persons outside the College other than the student. Likewise, there are state and federal laws limiting when an individual’s health records can be disclosed.

Whenever a subpoena or request for educational or health records is received, the subpoena or request should be immediately forwarded to the Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations, 137 East 22nd Street, Room C-312 and/or sabina.pringle@baruch.cuny.edu. No records should be produced until approval is given by the Baruch College Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations.

Do not give the agent any information. Direct the agent to the Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations, 137 East 22nd Street, Room C-312, tel. 646-312-4545 and/or sabina.pringle@baruch.cuny.edu.

Do not give the officer any information. Direct the agent to the Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations, 137 East 22nd Street, Room C-312, tel. 646-312-4545 and/or sabina.pringle@baruch.cuny.edu.

A Notice of Garnishment is a notice that a New York court has required the College to withhold certain sums from an employee’s wages, to be paid toward a debt owed by the employee. Any employee in receipt of such a notice should direct it to the Office of Human Resources with a copy to the Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations for processing.

All dealings with outside attorneys should be conducted through the Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations. If you are contacted by an attorney other than from CUNY’s Office of the General Counsel, please refer the attorney to the Baruch College Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations.

Baruch College employees are New York State employees and thus subject to New York Public Officers Law. For more information, see Ethics (NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government) (formerly JCOPE).

What is electronic discovery?

Once a lawsuit is filed, the parties engage in a process called “discovery” wherein they exchange information. Though a Complaint initiates the lawsuit, there is a period of time prior to the filing of a Complaint in which the parties anticipate litigation. Once litigation is anticipated, each party is responsible for preserving all potentially relevant evidence within its custody or control. The College is prohibited from altering, deleting or otherwise modifying any such information or data. This requirement necessarily includes both paper documents and information created and preserved electronically. In order to comply with the court-imposed rules, a “litigation hold” is sent by the Office of General Counsel to all persons who might have relevant paper and electronic data.

What information does the litigation hold give me?

Upon receipt of a litigation hold notice from the Office of General Counsel, you will be advised as to who is making a claim against the College, the nature of the claim and what information may be relevant that you will need to preserve. You will be asked to preserve any hard copies of documents under your control and to identify all relevant paper files.

Where will I need to look for electronic information?

The College’s computer systems include all workstations, laptops, network servers, removable media (memory stick, CD-ROMs, floppy disks, and other similar devices), handheld devices (Smartphones & other similar devices), voicemail and backup tapes. If you use your home computer or any of these devices in any way for work purposes, such as checking e-mail or keeping backup information on that computer, the “litigation hold” will apply to that computer as well. Therefore, in order to make certain that the College has preserved ALL relevant data, you will be provided a questionnaire asking you to list information such as where you store information, what backup procedures you take and whether your assistants or aides might also have information relevant to the litigation.

What will I have to do with my electronic information?

To comply with the electronic discovery rules, you will be asked to retain all relevant files stored on the computer systems described above and all relevant e-mail (contained in your Outlook mailbox and folders and/or any other e-mail format). The information must be preserved in its original electronic form, so that all information contained within it, whether visible or not, is also available for inspection. It is not sufficient to make a hard copy of electronic communications. To ensure that no electronic information is inadvertently deleted, you will be asked to suspend deletion, overwriting, or any other destruction of electronic information that is under your control. Any e-mail “housekeeping” functions, such as automatic deletion of email after a certain number of days, must be disabled. With every litigation hold, OCIS representatives and your local system administrators will be given notice and will be available to assist with the suspension of deletion of electronic information. Additionally, OCIS will gather electronically held information and assist in making regular backups of data.

What happens next?

After all information is gathered, the College attorneys will then make a determination, based upon the information requested by opposing counsel, as to what is relevant and non-privileged and what will be produced to the court and opposing counsel.

Baruch faculty and staff should feel free to call on the Legal Counsel for help with a question. The Legal Counsel may assist you and/or reach out to an OGC attorney knowledgeable about the appropriate area of the law.

Attorney/Client Privilege is a legal doctrine that protects confidential communications between the attorney and the client (Baruch College) that are for the purpose of obtaining legal advice. All such communications between the attorney and the client must be kept confidential. This privilege facilitates candid communication between the attorney and the client in order to facilitate legal advice and representation. Since the College is the client, the privilege applies only to communications between attorneys for Baruch College and individuals regarding College-related matters, not personal matters. If you have a question about whether the privilege may apply in a given situation, please contact the Legal Counsel.

The College may need to discuss your concern and/or the issue with certain individuals on a need-to-know basis and therefore is unable to guarantee confidentiality. We will make every effort to respect information you share with us and use it in a thoughtful process.

If you have been asked to sign a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement, you should contact the Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations. However, you should contact the Office of Sponsored Projects and Research (SPAR) if the nondisclosure agreement is in connection with CUNY research. For nondisclosure agreements for personal matters unrelated to your College work, you should contact your personal attorney. One should be sure, however, that any such confidentiality agreements do not conflict with one’s College’s responsibilities.

Generally, yes as long as you are acting in good faith and in the scope of your job.

No. The Legal Counsel provides legal services related to College business only.

OGC staff are responsible for matters related to CUNY’s intellectual property rights and assets, including protecting and enforcing CUNY copyrights and trademarks; providing advice and counsel regarding e.g., infringement, fair use, data use, maintenance, and sharing; and answering questions about the CUNY Intellectual Property Policy.

See the CUNY Legal Affairs page for information regarding copyright.

The President and Vice President of Administration are authorized to sign contracts on behalf of Baruch. In some circumstances, the Provost and some other senior officers have limited authority to sign certain contracts in a specific area of responsibility. If you have not been specifically delegated authority to sign contracts for the College, you do not have that authority. All contracts (except contracts on OGC-issued forms or that have been otherwise approved as to form in writing by the OGC) must be reviewed by the Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations. Note that even if the contract does not have a financial component, it still has to be reviewed by the Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations.

Emergency Issues

To report an EMERGENCY on campus, use any campus phone to call 3333 or use your cell phone to call 646-312-3333.

Sexual Misconduct or Discrimination

Chief Diversity Officer, Title IX Coordinator
TBA
137 East 22nd Street, Room 204
Phone: 646-312-4540

Workplace Violence

Workplace Violence Prevention Program (WVAT)
Olga Dais, Co-Chair
olga.dais@baruch.cuny.edu
Phone: 646-312-4545
Andrea Caviness, Co-Chair
andrea.caviness@baruch.cuny.edu
Phone: 646-660-6590

Department of Public Safety
public.safety@baruch.cuny.edu
Phone: 646-660-6000

Public Safety

Department of Public Safety
public.safety@baruch.cuny.edu
Phone: 646-660-6000

Environmental Health and Safety

Office of Environmental Health, Safety and Risk Management (EHSRM)
55 Lexington Avenue, Box A-213
New York, NY 10010
James Kaznosky, Director
james.kaznosky@baruch.cuny.edu
Phone: 646-660-6048

Loss or Theft of Confidential Information

Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations
Olga Dais, AVP/Legal Counsel and Labor Designee
olga.dais@baruch.cuny.edu
Lisa Hochstadt, Deputy Legal Counsel
lisa.hochstadt@baruch.cuny.edu
Phone: 646-312-4545

Any other violation of or noncompliance with a law or College Policy

Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations
Olga Dais, AVP/Legal Counsel and Labor Designee
olga.dais@baruch.cuny.edu
Lisa Hochstadt, Deputy Legal Counsel
lisa.hochstadt@baruch.cuny.edu
Phone: 646-312-4545

Research Misconduct by Faculty

Research Integrity Officer (RIO)
Dr. Kristin Sommer
rio@baruch.cuny.edu

Academic Integrity

Dr. Annie Virkus-Estrada
Office of the Dean of Students
annie.virkus-estrada@baruch.cuny.edu
Phone: 646-312-4570

Theft, Fraud or Misuse of College Resources

Office of Legal Affairs and Labor Relations
Olga Dais, AVP/Legal Counsel and Labor Designee
olga.dais@baruch.cuny.edu
Lisa Hochstadt, Deputy Legal Counsel
lisa.hochstadt@baruch.cuny.edu
Phone: 646-312-4545

Computer Use

Baruch Computing and Technology Center
helpdesk@baruch.cuny.edu
Phone: 646-312-1020