Labor & Employment Law

Repeated disciplinary action against supervisor considered in upholding dismissal

By Harvey Randall, Esq.

Repeated disciplinary action against supervisor considered in upholding dismissal
Matter of William Brown v New York City Housing Authority, 40 A.D.3d 511, Appellate Division, First Department

The Appellate Division unanimously confirmed the New York City Housing Authority?s terminating William Brown, a Supervisor of Caretakers, from his position.

The court rejected Brown?s contention that his termination was unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion and unfair.

Rather, said the court, ?It is well settled that an administrative sanction must be upheld unless it so shocks the judicial conscience as to constitute an abuse of discretion as a matter of law,? citing Featherstone v Franco, 95 NY2d 550 and Pell v Board of Education, 34 NY2d 222, in support of its ruling.

The decision states that Brown had been ?disciplined repeatedly? since he was first promoted to Supervisor of Caretakers in 1998, but had failed to respond to these adverse personnel actions. Most significantly, said the court, Brown?s misconduct included disruptive acts, such as walking away from a supervisor while being counseled on his job performance and ?improper physical contact? with a supervisor on at least one occasion.

[Brown also alleged that the Authority ?took steps to make it more difficult for him to regain his employment by changing his performance evaluation from satisfactory to unsatisfactory.? The Appellate Division ruled that because this allegation was not included in the administrative disciplinary hearing record, it was not properly before the Court in this Article 78 proceeding.]

For the full text of the decision, go to:

http://nypublicpersonnellawarchives.blogspot.com/2007/06/repeated-disciplinary-action-against.html

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on March 20, 2008 (boomark / email).