Employee must exhaust available administrative remedies unless he or she can demonstrate that such action would be futile
2015 NY Slip Op 05402, Appellate Division, First Department
A member of the College’s faculty [Petitioner] was not reappointed as an assistant professor by the College. Petitioner filed an Article 78 petition seeking a court order annulling the College’s decision not to continue her employment. Supreme Court dismissed Petitioner’s action.
Petitioner appealed but the Appellate Division sustained the lower court’s ruling, explaining that the relevant collective bargaining agreement governing an employee’s employment with the College provided for a three-step grievance and arbitration procedure. As Petitioner did not to avail herself of this procedure, the Appellate Division explained that she was precluded from seeking relief under Article 78 of the CPLR as she had not exhausted her administrative remedies.
In addition, the Appellate Division noted that Petitioner failed to establish that arbitration, which could result in referral to a three-member committee of faculty members drawn from a panel jointly chosen by the Chancellor and the union pursuant to terms and conditions set out in the collective bargaining agreement, would be futile.
Finally, the Appellate Division rejected Petitioner’s contention that the Chancellor's academic judgment as to her scholarly record and the College’s failure to secure meaningful funding does not constitute an "agency policy" that would render her resorting to her administrative remedies futile.
The decision is posted on the Internet at: