Employee denied additional probationary period
In Re Holbrook, 78 A.D.2d 840
The agency terminated the employee for failing to satisfactorily complete his probationary period because “his conduct towards his peers and subordinates engendered hostility, he failed to follow...policy respecting the routing and handling of legal department mail causing unnecessary delays...and he took upon himself the task of reviewing the operations of the legal department...diverting...from the work priorities his superiors had established for him”.
The employee sued and a State Supreme Court judge granting Holbrook petition and directed that the employer extend the individual’s probationary period for 12 weeks.
The Appellate Division overturned the lower court’s ruling, holding that there was a clearly ample rational justification for the termination since “(the employee) in his reply affidavit virtually confirms [the employer’s] observations” concerning his performance of his duties.
The court also rejected the employee’s representation that his dismissal was motivated by his uncovering and reporting his immediate supervisor’s poor management practices.
