Use of polygraph tests in an administrative disciplinary hearing

Use of polygraph tests in an administrative disciplinary hearing
Ost v Town of Woodstock, Appellate Division, 251 A.D.2d 724, Motion for leave to appeal denied, 92 N.Y.2d 817

One of the issues raised in the Ost case was the admission of testimony concerning a polygraph [lie-detector] test during a Section 75 disciplinary hearing.

Shawn Ost, a Town of Woodstock police officer, was terminated from his position for allegedly using his police vehicle to “give a young civilian woman a ride to her home outside the geographical boundaries of the Town, without authorization and subjected her to unwanted sexual contact” [the August 1994 incident] and other charges and specifications concerning other alleged misconduct involving the same woman about a year later.

Ost argued that the disciplinary hearing “was tainted by the admission of testimony regarding a polygraph test” of the [young woman] involved in the incident. The Appellate Division said that such testimony may be considered in a Section 75 disciplinary hearing “if it is otherwise material and relevant, so long as there is ... as there was in this instance ... substantial evidence of the reliability of the machine and the qualifications of the operator.”

As to Ost’s complaint that “he was not offered an opportunity to take a similar test,” the court commented that although Ost indicated that he would be willing to submit to such an examination, he never asked for a test to be scheduled or take any steps to arrange for one on his own.

Another issue that was considered by the Appellate Division was the Town’s decision to dismiss Ost in the face of the hearing officer’s recommendation that he be reprimanded and suspended for 30 days without pay. It noted that initially the Supreme Court had rejected all of Ost’s arguments but one -- that the town had failed to set forth the rationale underlying its departure from the hearing officer’s findings and recommended penalty.

Subsequently the town explained its reasons for its decision -- it found that Ost had lied about his activities in August 1995, and “his testimony regarding the earlier incident was incredible as well.” The Appellate Division affirmed the town’s decision as to guilt and the penalty it imposed on Ost. It said that “reversal of the penalty would not be warranted for the Board explicitly found ... that [Ost’s] actions in August 1995, alone, necessitated his termination from the police force.”