Supreme Court, Broome County, granted Theodora Q. Bryant’s CPLR Article 78 application to annul a determination of Chenango Forks Central School District to terminate reimbursement of certain Medicare premiums.*
The Public Employment Relations Board directed the School
District to rescind its June 2003 memorandum in which it notified
employees and retirees that it was terminating its practice of reimbursing
Medicare Part B premiums.
In a companion case PERB ruled that the school district must
reinstate its former practice of reimbursing retirees for Medicare Part B
premiums -- the same relief sought in the current proceeding.
The Appellate Division noted that PERB's order in the
companion case has been upheld by the Court of Appeals [see 2013 NY Slip Op
04039 (2013)]. Accordingly, Bryant received the full relief challenged by School
District in the current appeal as a result of that determination, .
Accordingly, the court ruled that the instant appeal is now moot.
As to argument advanced under color of an exception to the
mootness doctrine, the Appellate Division held that the claimed exception “does
not apply in that, although the issue advanced herein may recur and is
significant, it is not likely to evade review.”
* The underlying
facts are set forth in the Appellate Division’s prior decision (21 AD3d 1134
[2005]) and in the companion case brought by the Chenango
Forks Central School
District (Matter
of Chenango Forks Cent. School Dist. v New York State Pub. Empl. Relations Bd.,
95 AD3d 1479 [2012], affd ___ NY3d ___, 2013 NY Slip
Op 04039 [2013]). See, also, NYPPL’s summary of that decision posted on the
Internet at http://publicpersonnellaw.blogspot.com/search?q=bryant
The decision is posted on the Internet at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2013/2013_04379.htm