Supreme Court denied the Plaintiff's petition to vacate an arbitration award terminating Plaintiff's employment and granted the Appointing Authority's cross motion to dismiss Plaintiff's petition. Plaintiff appealed Supreme Court's disposition of the matter.
The Appellate Division unanimously affirmed [1] the Arbitrator's finding the Petitioner guilty of the disciplinary charges and specifications filed against him and [2] the penalty imposed, dismissal from his position. The court noted that the Arbitrator's decision was supported by the evidence, which included "eight observation reports and credible testimony of the principal and assistant principals who authored those reports," which described Plaintiff's persistent teaching deficiencies and inability to control his students.
Further, said the court, "[t]he evidence also demonstrated the school administrators' efforts to remediate [Plaintiff's] deficiencies, which ultimately were unsuccessful due to [Plaintiff's] lack of effort or interest in improving his performance."
Addressing the penalty imposed, termination of Plaintiff's employment, the Appellate Division opined that the penalty of dismissal "does not shock the conscience" in light of the prior disciplinary action taken against Plaintiff's which documented Plaintiff's "inability to meet standards of effective instruction" after considerable attempts were made to help him to improve his performance.
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