New York Public Personnel Law: Labor & Employment Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Labor & Employment Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Labor & Employment Law

New York Public Personnel Law

Summaries of and commentaries on, selected court and administrative decisions and related matters affecting public employers and employees in New York State.

Post Frequency: 10.2/day

Last Entry: November 05, 2020 at 10:02:02

Rescinding the granting of tenure to an educator

Posted on February 01, 2008
Rescinding the granting of tenure to an educatorRemus v Tonawanda City School Dist., Ct. of Appeals, 96 N.Y.2d 271Shaffer v Schenectady City School Dist., Ct. of Appeals 96 N.Y.2d 815The Remus and Shaffer decisions by the New York State Court of Appeals sets out the court's view with respect to the effective date of a teacher's employment rights flowing from holding a tenured appointment...

Silence is not the same as an answer

Posted on February 01, 2008
Silence is not the same as an answerWeston-Smith v Cooley Dickinson Hosp., CA1, #01-2284An employee claims that Cooley Dickinson Hospital terminated her because she took a maternity leave. When the employee confronts her supervisor, the supervisor does not respond to the accusation and changes the subject...

U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals Holds That Dr. With Staff Privileges Is Employee Under Title VII

Posted on February 01, 2008
U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals Holds That Dr. With Staff Privileges Is Employee Under Title VIISource: Adjunct Law Prof Blog; http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/adjunctprofs/Reproduced with permission. Copyright © 2008, Mitchell H. Rubinstein, Esq...

Disciplinary action for off-duty misconduct

Posted on February 01, 2008
Disciplinary action for off-duty misconductSmith v Kerick, App. Div., First Dept., 292 A.D.2d 223May an employee's off-duty misconduct be the basis for disciplinary charges being filed against the employee and if found guilty, support the imposition of the penalty of dismissal? This was the issue raised before the Appellate Division when New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerick fired detective Robert Smith after he found Smith was guilty of off-duty misconduct...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Misuse of the employer's recordsMcKernan

Posted on February 01, 2008
Misuse of the employer's recordsMcKernan v Safir, App. Div., 1st Dept 292 A.D.2d 281; motion for leave to appeal denied, 98 N.Y.2d 613New York City police sergeant Craig D. McKernan was served with disciplinary charges including charges alleging that he used the Police Department's computer system to run license plate inquiries for purposes other than Department business and that he did so with knowledge that the person making the inquiries was involved in criminal activities...

Determining the compensation of a village chief of police

Posted on February 01, 2008
Determining the compensation of a village chief of policeOpinion of the State Comptroller, 2007-3Summary of the Opinion:A village chief of police is not entitled to benefits under General Municipal Law Section 207-M[1] when the ?other compensation? provided to the highest-ranking subordinate in the village police department who is in a bargaining unit has not been increased on or after August 2, 1999...

Reimbursement of training expenses

Posted on January 31, 2008
Reimbursement of training expensesVillage of Homer v County of Cortland and Joshua Parente, 15 Misc.3d 1123(A)The Village of Homer appointed Joshua Parente as a police officer. Parente served as a police officer of the Village until May 20, 2005, when he left his position to take a job with the Cortland County Sheriff?s Department...

Applicant has the burden of proving wrongful denial of employment

Posted on January 31, 2008
Applicant has the burden of proving wrongful denial of employmentFrancis v City of New York, 15 Misc.3d 1123(A)Michael A. Francis? application for employment as a New York City Firefighter was rejected by the Department. He sued, claiming that ?his examination results were well above average? as his adjusted final average was 101...

US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Holds That Employee Who Falsely Signed Another Employee's Name On A Letter Engaged In Unprotected Activity

Posted on January 31, 2008
US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Holds That Employee Who Falsely Signed Another Employee's Name On A Letter Engaged In Unprotected ActivitySource: Adjunct Law Prof Blog; http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/adjunctprofs/Reproduced with permission. Copyright © 2008, Mitchell H...

Zipper clause in a collective bargaining agreement

Posted on January 31, 2008
Zipper clause in a collective bargaining agreementVillage of Tarrytown v Tarrytown Police Asso., 31 PERB 4540A zipper clause in a Taylor Law collective bargaining contract sets out the fact that the parties ?agree that to the extent agreement is possible on negotiable items it has been reached in [the] agreement...

Unit decertification procedures

Posted on January 31, 2008
Unit decertification proceduresTown of Carmel PBA and Town of Carmel, 31 PERB 3046Sometimes established negotiating units become temporarily defunct for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Town of Carmel case illustrates such a situation.The Town of Carmel PBA filed a petition with PERB seeking to have the title lieutenant included in its unit that represented persons in the titles of patrolman, sergeant, detective and detective sergeant...

Eavesdropping

Posted on January 31, 2008
EavesdroppingBartnicki v Vopper, USSC, 532 U.S. 514From time to time an administrator learns about alleged employee misbehavior indirectly such as via a report resulting from the interception of a letter or phone call.In the Bartnicki case the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the implications First Amendment freedom of speech rights in a case involving the disclosure of the contents of unlawfully intercepted communications...

Disciplinary settlements

Posted on January 31, 2008
Disciplinary settlementsAlfred v Safir, App. Div., First Dept., 283 A.D.2d 280In the course of settling a disciplinary matter, the employee typically agrees to plea guilty to some or all of the charges in exchange for a negotiated penalty that the employee and the employer's representative agree will be imposed...

Freedom of speech

Posted on January 31, 2008
Freedom of speechSheppard v Beerman, USDC, EDNY, Judge Glasser,If a public employee criticizes his or her superior or supervisor, to what extent are the employee's statements protected by the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech? This was the central issue in the Sheppard case...

Confirming an arbitration award

Posted on January 31, 2008
Confirming an arbitration awardSteuben County v CSEA Local 1000, App. Div., 4th Dept., 292 A.D.2d 810Unhappy with the decision of the arbitrator, Steuben County obtained an order from a State Supreme Court judge vacating the arbitrator's award. The Appellate Division reversed the lower court's decision, holding that:1...

Workers? compensation claim denied after being ruled an ?afterthought?

Posted on January 30, 2008
Workers? compensation claim denied after being ruled an ?afterthought?Matter of Santiago v Otisville Correctional Facility, 2007 NY Slip Op 03614, decided on April 26, 2007, Appellate Division, Third DepartmentRafael Santiago, a correction officer, filed a claim for workers? compensation benefits...

Receipt of an arbitration award starts the 90-day statute of limitation[1] for an appeal

Posted on January 30, 2008
Receipt of an arbitration award starts the 90-day statute of limitation[1] for an appealMatter of McRae v New York City Transit Authority, 2007 NY Slip Op 03698, decided on April 24, 2007, Appellate Division, Second DepartmentThe Appellate Division dismissed Curtis McRae?s petition seeking to vacate an arbitration award dated December 28, 2004 as untimely...

FMLA Amendments Extend Leave to Families of Service members

Posted on January 30, 2008
FMLA Amendments Extend Leave to Families of Service membersSource: Jackson Lewis LLP, Francis P. Alvarez, Esq. Reproduced with permission. Copyright © 2008, Jackson Lewis. Originally published at www.jacksonlewis.com All rights reserved.President George Bush has signed into law a defense authorization bill that includes provisions amending the Family and Medical Leave Act to provide (a) up to six months of leave for family members caring for military veterans injured while on active duty in the U...

Unilateral changes in smoking policy

Posted on January 30, 2008
Unilateral changes in smoking policyMatter of Council 82, 31 PERB 3051Council 82 complained that the Central New York Psychiatric Center committed an unfair labor practice when it unilaterally issued an ?interim smoking policy containing a five-step disciplinary component...

Employees? rights upon the take-over of a BOCES program

Posted on January 30, 2008
Employees? rights upon the take-over of a BOCES programMatter of Valentine, Commissioner?s decision 13977Elizabeth Valentine, a tenured ?general special education teacher,? was at Step 9 of the BOCES salary schedule when the North Tonawanda City School District decided to ?take-back? some of its students and expand its special education program...

Employee?s performing job related ?outside work? ruled a conflict of interest

Posted on January 30, 2008
Employee?s performing job related ?outside work? ruled a conflict of interestReichel v Water Auth., App. Div., 2nd Dept., 283 A.D.2d 475Certain employees of the Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) also maintained private businesses that offered plumbing services to homeowners...

Chronic health condition not always a disability within the meaning of the ADA

Posted on January 30, 2008
Chronic health condition not always a disability within the meaning of the ADASirota v NYC Bd. of Ed., App. Div., First Dept., 283 A.D.2d 369The Sirota case points out that a serious, chronic health condition may not necessarily constitute a disability within the meaning of the Americans With Disabilities Act and other civil rights enactments...

Violating the terms of a disciplinary probation

Posted on January 30, 2008
Violating the terms of a disciplinary probationDavis v DMNA, App. Div., 3rd Dept., 291 A.D.2d 778Disciplinary action was initiated against Randall Davis by his employer, the New York State Division of Military Affairs and Naval Affairs [DMNA], based on allegations that he was guilty of violating DMNA's Internet policy by visiting inappropriate websites, including pornographic websites and using a State-owned computer for "personal business...

Standard of review of Section 75 decision

Posted on January 30, 2008
Standard of review of Section 75 decisionPryor v O'Donnell, App. Div., 2nd Dept., 291 A.D.2d 502John R. O'Donnell, Suffolk County's Commissioner of Labor, filed Civil Service Law Section 75 disciplinary charges against Denis M. Pryor alleging Pryor was guilty of insubordination and had abandoned his position...

Appointment from a preferred list

Posted on January 29, 2008
Appointment from a preferred listAppeal of Deborah Cooper from action of the Board of Education of the Hempstead Union Free School DistrictCommissioner of Education Decision No. 15,708, January 14, 2008The Commissioner dismissed Deborah Cooper?s appeal claiming that the school district should have appointed her to a Coordinator of Student Support Services position while she was on a preferred eligible list...

Contract grievance procedure held inapplicable in Article 78 disciplinary appeal

Posted on January 29, 2008
Contract grievance procedure held inapplicable in Article 78 disciplinary appealColeman v Town of Eastchester, 2007 NY Slip Op 03692, Decided on April 24, 2007, Appellate Division, Second DepartmentRussell Coleman, a groundskeeper for a municipal golfing facility, was charged with 18 specifications of misconduct, insubordination, and incompetence involving the performance of his work...

Court review of university decisions concerning the appointment of faculty limited

Posted on January 29, 2008
Court review of university decisions concerning the appointment of faculty limitedPerinpanayagam v University At Buffalo & State Univ. of N. Y., 2007 NY Slip Op 03451, Decided on April 20, 2007, Appellate Division, Fourth DepartmentDr. Hiran Perinpanayagam appealed SUNY at Buffalo?s decision not to renew his appointment as an Assistant Professor in the School of Dental Medicine...

Reconsideration of a disciplinary penalty

Posted on January 29, 2008
Reconsideration of a disciplinary penaltyGillen v. Smithtown Library Bd. of Trustees, App. Div., 254 A.D.2d 486, Affirmed, 94 N.Y.2d 776Thomas G. Gillen was the Director of the Smithtown Library from 1988 until his suspension in 1994, when he was charged with submitting ?documents containing false entries to the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service...

Qualified privilege as a defense in litigation

Posted on January 29, 2008
Qualified privilege as a defense in litigationWerner, et al, v Costella, NYS Supreme Court (Justice Solomon) [not officially reported]Under a legal concept called ?qualified privilege,? public employees are immune from liability for acts or omissions committed while acting properly in the execution of their official duties...

Protected activity under Title VII

Posted on January 29, 2008
Protected activity under Title VIIMcMenemy v City of Rochester, CA2, 241 F.3d 279If an individual who works for Employer A investigates a human rights complaint alleged by an individual working for Employer B, is he or she engaged in a protected activity within the meaning of Title VII insofar as Employer A is concerned? This was a major issue in the McMenemy case...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

Claim for Concealment of Value of Marital Assets Dismissed in New York
Once a divorce case is settled, parties often experience “buyerï¿½...

Pre-Nuptial Agreements: New York Tolls the Statute of Limitations
The New York legislature has passed a law that clears up what had ...

Medical Malpractice - Why Is Your New York Doctor Afraid To Treat You?
I was in the emergency room with my son one evening, and the emerg...

Another Fatal Accident on the New York Bronx River Parkway
November 2007 has been a treacherous month on the Bronx River Park...

New York City Car Crash Kills Woman Who Survived 9/11
Florence Cioffi, a woman who survived 9/11 and was just days from ...