Judge Kevin Casey of the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings denied motions by defendants New York City Transit Authority and a group of cleaning companies to dismiss a prevailing wage proceeding. The judge found that Article 9 of the Labor Law applied to workers who cleaned and disinfected subway cars during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court determined that Article 9, which required that prevailing wages be paid to any person performing work in connection with the care or maintenance of an existing building, applied to workers who cleaned and disinfected the subway cars because the work was performed while the subway cars were inside a terminal station.