Redacting the name of a party in an administrative disciplinary action from the decision
OATH Index No. 724/17
A New York City correction officer was served administrative disciplinary charges alleging the officer used unauthorized force when disbursing a chemical agent for more than a two-second burst within six feet of an inmate who had ceased offering resistance. The officer was also charged with filing an incomplete and inaccurate use of force report.
The officer moved to have his name redacted from the decision pursuant to §50-a of the New York State Civil Rights Law*on the grounds that a correction officer’s personnel records cannot be disclosed without an officer’s consent or a court order.
New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings [OATH] Administrative Law Judge Astrid B. Gloade denied the motion, explaining that OATH has
consistently held that its decisions are not subject to the confidentiality provisions of Section 50-a of the Civil Rights Law because it is an independent tribunal that is not under the New York City Department of Correction's control."
* Civil Rights Law §50-a, in pertinent part, provides that “personnel records . . . under the control of . . . a department of correction of individuals employed as correction officers” cannot be disclosed without an officer’s consent or a court order.
The decision is posted on the Internet at: