Employee terminated after refusing to accept reassignment to another location

Employee terminated after refusing to accept reassignment to another location
Dippell v Hammons, 246 A.D.2d 450

Dagmar Dippell, an attorney employed by the New York City Human Resources Administration, refused to report to her new assignment in Queens. This resulted in Dippell’s demotion following a disciplinary hearing.

When she continued to refuse to report to the new location, a second hearing was conducted and she was terminated. Dippell appealed, contending that the determinations by the two Administrative Law Judges [ALJs] were not supported by substantial evidence.

Commenting on the hearings that preceded Dippell’s dismissal, the Appellate Division cited the “obey now, grieve later” principle. The Court said that the first ALJ had ample grounds to conclude that Dippell had no basis for disregarding that principle. Although Dippell’s physician had recommended a “non-stressful job” for her, that, standing alone, “was inadequate to establish that the reassignment would be unduly debilitating to her health.”

The ALJ found that Dippell’s testimony lacked credibility and that she came across as “stubborn and misguided.” According to the decision, the ALJ credited the testimony of a department witness that Dippell was reassigned because of her failure to return from a Florida vacation on time and her “longstanding poor relationship with her immediate supervisor.”

The second proceeding was held before a different ALJ. The Appellate Division noted that Dippell failed to appear at that hearing. The Appellate Division said that the second ALJ “properly concluded” that dismissal was the only appropriate penalty, because Dippell had previously been demoted for similar misconduct.