Attorney sanctioned after including AI generated hallucinations in material submitted to the court

New York State Supreme Court Justice Joel M. Cohen introduced his decision in the instant matter as follows: 

"This case adds yet another unfortunate chapter to the story of artificial intelligence misuse in the legal profession. Here, Defendants' counsel not only included an AI-hallucinated citation* and quotations in the summary judgment brief that led to the filing of this motion for sanctions, but also included multiple new AI-hallucinated citations and quotations in Defendants' brief opposing this motion. In other words, counsel relied upon unvetted AI — in his telling, via inadequately supervised colleagues — to defend his use of unvetted AI."

Justice Cohen opined that the use of AI is not the problem per se, "the problem arises when attorneys abdicate their responsibility to ensure their factual and legal representations to the Court—even if originally sourced from AI—are accurate". In the words of the Court, "When attorneys fail to check their work—whether AI-generated or not—they prejudice their clients and do a disservice to the Court and the profession. In sum, counsel's duty of candor to the Court cannot be delegated to a software program".**

Justice Cohen then:

"ORDERED that Plaintiff's motion for sanctions pursuant to 22 NYCRR §130-1.1 is GRANTED, such that Defendants and their counsel are jointly and severally liable to compensate Plaintiff for her reasonable costs and attorney's fees incurred in connection with this motion, together with fees and costs attributable to addressing Defendants' unvetted AI citations and quotations in the summary judgment motion;

"ORDERED that Plaintiff shall submit an application with supporting documentation for the fees awarded above within fourteen (14) days of the date of this order; Defendants and their counsel may submit opposition thereto within fourteen (14) days of Plaintiff's application. Plaintiff shall notify the Court via letter filing on NYSCEF and by email when the application is complete and whether it is opposed or unopposed; and

"ORDERED that Plaintiff's counsel promptly submit a copy of this decision and order to the Grievance Committee for the Appellate Division, First Department and the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics, copying defense counsel and this Court on its transmittal letters."

* Such "creativity" by an Artificial Intelligence computer program is often referred to as an "AI generated hallucination".

Click HERE to access Justice Cohen's ruling posted on the Internet.

Unemployment Insurance claimant terminated for failure to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination challenged her disqualified from receiving such benefits

Claimant for Unemployment Insurance Benefits appealed a New York State Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board [Board] ruling holding that Claimant was disqualified from receiving unemployment insurance benefits because Claimant voluntarily separated from employment without good cause.

Claimant was notified by her employer that she and similar situated employees in patient-facing roles were required to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine by a specified date in order to continue their employment. Claimant submitted a written religious exemption request seeking to be exempt from the vaccination requirement, which request the employer denied.

Claimant's employment was ultimately terminated for her failure to obtain the COVID-19 vaccination and she applied for unemployment insurance benefits. 

The New York State Department of Labor issued an initial determination finding, among other things, that Claimant was disqualified from receiving unemployment insurance benefits because she had voluntarily separated from her employment without good cause. Following a hearing, an Administrative Law Judge sustained the initial determination, and that decision was upheld by the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board and Claimant appealed. 

The Board then reopened its decision pursuant to Labor Law §534 and remanded the matter for a hearing to address, among other things, Claimant's contention that her sincerely held religious beliefs prevented her from receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. The Board confirmed its earlier decision and Claimant appealed.

The Appellate Division affirmed the Board's decision noting that "Whether a claimant has good cause to leave employment is a factual issue for the Board to resolve, and its determination will be upheld if supported by substantial evidence, notwithstanding evidence in the record that might support a contrary in addition the the Court observed "... whether a claimant's conduct is motivated by sincerely held religious beliefs or is based upon secular convictions is a question for the Board".

Claimant had indicated, among other things, that she declined to be vaccinated because of her faith, that she has serious medical issues, that receiving the vaccine would not have been in her health's best interests and that she had safety concerns regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Under the circumstances, and deferring to the Board's credibility assessments and the inferences to be drawn from Claimant's testimony and submissions, which varied at points regarding her reason for not getting vaccinated, the Appellate Division concluded that "substantial evidence supports the Board's finding that claimant voluntarily refused to comply with the vaccine mandate for personal and secular reasons, including her safety concerns, and not based upon sincerely held religious beliefs and, thus, she left her employment without good cause."

Click HERE to access the Appellate Division's decision.

New York State Departments and Agencies and other New York governmental entity audits posted on the Internet

On August 7, 2025, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli posted the following audits on the Internet.

Click the text highlighted in COLOR to access the audit.

New York City Public Schools – College Readiness (Follow-Up) (2025-F-12)

Nearly half of all students who complete high school and go to college require remedial courses, and nearly half never graduate. In general, college readiness refers to the set of skills, behaviors, and knowledge a high school student should have before enrollment in their first year of college, as well as the ability for high school students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills required to successfully complete freshman-level college coursework. A prior audit, issued in October 2022, found that, overall, New York City Public Schools (NYCPS, formerly the New York City Department of Education) should do more to prepare students to be college ready regardless of the post-secondary pathway they decide to take, and this preparation should begin much earlier in students’ school years. Specifically, for a cohort of 71,210 high school students expected to graduate by August 2019, as many as 23% did not graduate on time. NYCPS officials have made significant progress in addressing the problems identified in the initial audit report, implementing all four recommendations.

Department of Health – Medicaid Program: Oversight of Managed Care Provider Networks (2023-S-20)
Managed care organizations (MCOs) are required to submit their provider network to the Department of Health (DOH) quarterly, and this information is used to generate a deficiency report identifying areas where the MCO lacks enough providers in certain counties. MCOs are given an opportunity to dispute deficiencies and provide supporting information to have the deficiency removed and the remaining deficiencies are compiled into a quarterly Statement of Agreement for each MCO. Auditors determined that, in many instances, DOH did not follow its internal review guidance, Statements of Agreement contained inaccurate deficiencies, and deficiency statuses were not always updated, so it was unclear whether DOH took the additional steps needed to complete its quarterly network adequacy review. Auditors also found that DOH does not provide MCOs with adequate guidance regarding the deficiency review process or out-of-network provider payments, which may expose the Medicaid program to increased expenses. Further, despite having access to the Statement of Agreement data, DOH officials do not use this information to identify patterns or areas for improvement or to provide any other oversight of the network adequacy process.

Transforming Into Construction & Development (2023-S-49)
The Public Authorities Law required the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to “develop and complete a personnel and reorganization plan” by June 30, 2019. According to the Transformation plan adopted by the MTA Board on July 24, 2019, “the MTA’s transformation seeks to change the fundamental ways in which the Agencies do business in order to drive improved service levels for the customers, process efficiencies and cost reductions.” At the December 2019 Board Meeting, MTA Capital Construction was renamed and reorganized to Construction & Development Company (C&D). Auditors found that, although C&D provided evidence that it had been organizationally transformed, sufficient time had not passed to comprehensively assess whether the change delivered capital projects faster, better, or cheaper, as was its plan. The data that was available was at times incomplete or insufficiently supported, and a definition of what constituted cost savings was not clearly defined and included some questionable items.

Department of Health – Medicaid Program: Improper Payments for Certain Third-Party Cost-Sharing Claims (2024-S-1)
When Medicaid members have other sources of health care coverage (third-party insurers), Medicaid is considered the payer of last resort and, as such, providers are required to coordinate benefits with third-party insurers before billing Medicaid for services. After processing a claim from a provider, the third-party insurer issues a statement to the provider, explaining the reason for any adjustments made to the claim amount. Claim Adjustment Reason Codes (CARCs) and group codes (such as PR, patient responsibility, and CO, contractual obligation) on statements detail the reason an adjustment was made to a claim and assign financial responsibility for the unpaid portion of the claim balance. CARC 45 occurs when the charge exceeds the maximum allowable fee and claims with a CARC PR 45 are currently configured to pay in eMedNY (DOH’s automated Medicaid claims processing and payment system), while claims with a CARC CO 45 are not. Auditors identified 69,166 claims totaling payments of almost $10.2 million billed with a PR 45. They sampled 58 of these claims billed with a PR 45 and identified billing issues on each claim that resulted in Medicaid overpayments of $1,778,546.

New York City Department of Social Services – New York City Department of Homeless Services: Oversight of Contract Expenditures of Institute for Community Living, Inc. (Follow-Up) (2025-F-16)
In March 2014, the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS), an administrative unit of the New York City Department of Social Services, contracted with the Institute for Community Living, Inc. (ICL), a City-based not-for-profit organization, to provide temporary housing and other services at its 200-bed Tillary Street Women’s Shelter for the period from December 2013 to December 2021. A prior audit, issued in September 2022, found DHS did not complete required expenditure reviews or ensure that year-end closeouts were completed in a timely manner. Consequently, for the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2019, auditors identified $2,376,462, or 9.7% of all reported costs, did not comply with requirements. DHS officials made some progress in addressing the issues identified in the initial audit report. Of the initial report’s nine audit recommendations, one was implemented, five were partially implemented, and three were not implemented.

Office of Mental Health – Oversight of Kendra’s Law (Follow-Up) (2025-F-6)
In August 1999, Kendra’s Law was enacted, creating a statutory framework for court-ordered Assisted Outpatient Treatment to ensure that individuals with severe mental illness and a history of hospitalizations or violence participate in community-based services appropriate to their needs. Assisted Outpatient Treatment implementation is a joint responsibility and collaboration among the Office of Mental Health (OMH), its five regional Field Offices, and local mental health authorities in 57 counties and New York City. A prior audit, issued in February 2024, found areas in need of improvement, including length of Assisted Outpatient Treatment investigations and related information-sharing, initiation of Assisted Outpatient Treatment services, the quality and completeness of information about significant events and how that information is shared, lapsing Assisted Outpatient Treatment orders, and local mental health authorities’ reported reasons for Assisted Outpatient Treatment non-renewals. OMH officials made progress in addressing the problems identified in the initial audit report. Of the report’s six recommendations, three have been implemented, two have been partially implemented, and one has not been implemented.

 

Selected items posted on blogs during the week ending November 7, 2025

A Government Leader’s Guide to Meeting Website Accessibility and Compliance Requirements Meet DOJ mandates with CivicPlus: ensure ADA compliance and better serve all residents. Learn More

Adopting Better, Stronger Identity Verification This case study explains how using a modern identity platform with AI and machine learning can improve constituent experience and crack down on increasingly sophisticated fraud. READ MORE

Future Forward Government A space created for state and local IT leaders and decision-makers who are charting the course of tomorrow's public sector.  EXPLORE

Where Generative AI Makes Sense in the Public Sector This guide helps government and education leaders identify where generative AI can deliver measurable impact--from improving service delivery to unlocking smarter decision-making. Explore key use cases, data strategies, and practical steps to move beyond pilots and build secure, scalable applications that align with policy, budget, and mission goals. DOWNLOAD

How Do Teams Restore Connectivity When Every Minute Counts? A new docufilm explores how broadband providers, utility crews, and government agencies must work in lockstep to restore critical services after disaster strikes. Watch Now

Build a Self-Improving Cyber Workforce Today Explore how states can tackle the cyber skills gap with ecosystem-based talent development. READ MORE

From Risk Management to Enterprise Leadership: Cybersecurity in Government Today's CISOs aren't just protecting systems - they're leading enterprise-wide change. This paper explores how cybersecurity leaders in state and local government are stepping out of the shadows to become strategic enablers, guiding everything from AI adoption to cloud modernization.  DOWNLOAD

Hunting Ghost Students California's community colleges lost more than $13 million last year to "ghost students" - a form of identity fraud designed to exploit financial aid programs. LEARN MORE

New school audits issued by the New York State Comptroller

On November 5, 2025, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced the school audits listed below were issued.

Click on the text highlighted in color to access the audit.

Exploration Elementary Charter School for Science and Technology – Non-Payroll Disbursements (Monroe County) 

School officials did not ensure that disbursements were adequately supported, for appropriate purposes, and reviewed and approved before payment. 

The audit also determined that 112 disbursements and credit charges totaling $504,506 did not have an itemized invoice and a documented school purpose. Officials said they purchased 300 gift cards each worth $100 (totaling $30,975) for students for achieving certain grades on state exams but the cards were given to 19 teachers and support staff based on student grades. 

In addition, the operations manager’s responsibilities were not adequately segregated, and she was able to make purchases, prepare checks, sign checks with a board member’s stamp and modify or delete data in the financial software. 

Finally, the school’s former operations manager was arrested in December 2024 for the alleged theft of $1,100 in gift cards. On July 2, 2025, she pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and repaid the school.

Greenburgh Central School District – Procurement (Westchester County) 

District officials generally procured time and materials contracts in a cost-efficient manner using competitive bids or the required exception to the competitive bidding process. However, district officials did not confirm that the goods and services billed by the vendor and paid by the district were accurate and complied with the applicable bid specifications or, in some circumstances, the terms of the contract. Because of this, officials overpaid three vendors a total of $55,015. 

In addition, officials did not ensure all vendor invoices were properly supported and audited before payment. As a result, there is an increased risk that paid claims may not be for legitimate expenditures.

Elmira City School District – Capital Projects (Chemung County) 

Although district officials complied with competitive bidding requirements and certain aspects of the district’s procurement policies, they did not seek competition for two professional service contracts related to the 2020 Capital and Energy Performance Improvements Project. 

Auditors reviewed a total of 60 contracts and 12 change orders associated with the contracts that either exceeded the competitive bidding requirements set forth in state law or were subject to the district’s procurement policies and procedures. The total cost of these contracts and change orders was approximately $62.9 million. Of these costs, $7.3 million was paid to two vendors through contracts for professional services that were not let in accordance with the district’s procurement policy that requires the district to use a request for proposals process.

Jasper-Troupsburg Central School District – Emergency Drills (Steuben County)

During the regular school year, district officials must conduct a minimum of 12 evacuation and lockdown drills for each building and three bus drills for each bus to provide staff and students with the training necessary to respond appropriately in an emergency. 

District officials did not conduct all required drills or conduct all drills within the required time frames and officials could not support that they met all drill requirements. Officials also did not file the required state Education Department annual certification for bus drills or properly notify parents of drills. 

Without adequate emergency instruction and training, district officials cannot ensure that staff and students are prepared for emergencies.

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