Discourtesy and failure to obey a lawful order
OATH Index No. 851/14
A computer aide was charged with discourtesy, refusal to obey orders, and inefficient performance.
OATH Administrative Law Judge Faye Lewis found that the aide was guilty of misconduct when she was rude and unhelpful to a day care provider who repeatedly called her for assistance and when she frequently failed to return that provider's telephone calls.
The ALJ also found the aide guilty of misconduct when she closed a door in a colleague's face after the colleague approached to say that a client was waiting to see her, and when she failed to obey orders to provide her supervisor with a case folder and to resubmit a form.
Judge Lewis, however, concluded that it was not misconduct for the aide to tell her colleagues she was on her lunch break and did not want to be bothered, as meal periods are not work time.
As the aide did not have any history of formal discipline, ALJ Lewis recommended that she be suspended without pay for 12 days.
The decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://archive.citylaw.org/oath/00_Cases/14-851.pdf.