New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings [OATH] Administrative Law Judge Astrid B. Gloade recommended termination of employment for a sanitation worker who drove a Department of Sanitation collection truck the wrong way down a one-way street in Brooklyn and struck a pedestrian, resulting in the pedestrian’s death.
ALJ Gloade found that the worker’s guilty plea in criminal court to conduct that constitutes a failure to exercise due care precluded him from contending at his disciplinary trial that he acted reasonably.* The ALJ also found that the worker was negligent when he drove a collection truck against the flow of traffic.
Judge Gloade also sustained a charge that the worker brought discredit on the agency because he was arrested and ultimately pled guilty to conduct that generated publicity that reflected negatively on the Department.
Charges involving the use of "time and leave" filed against the employee were also sustained but a charge of having damaged department property was dismissed.
[The Commissioner adopted the ALJ's findings and recommendation.]
* In Kelly v Levin, 81 A.D.2d 1005, the Appellate Division held if a jury finds a person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, or the charged individual enters a plea of guilty, a disciplinary hearing officer need hear no other evidence to render a verdict of guilty regarding a parallel charge in an administrative disciplinary proceeding brought against that individual.
Click HERE to access the full text of Judge Gloade's findings and recommendation.
Employee disciplined for alleged inappropriate use of force against a prison inmate
ALJ Susan J. Pogoda recommended a 60-day suspension without pay for a correction officer for inappropriate use of force, submitting a misleading use of force report, and making false statements during a post-incident interview.
Judge Pogoda found that even though the inmate became non-compliant and disruptive, the officer’s striking the inmate’s facial area was not justified as the inmate’s movement was limited by enhanced restraints and he did not pose a danger to staff.
Rejecting the officer’s defense that he was attempting to utilize a control hold, the ALj found that the officer struck the inmate in the face to gain compliance, and, further, found that the officer made misleading statements in a post-incident report and interview.
Click HERE to access the text of Judge Pogoda's findings and recommendation.
Correction Officer found guilty of using excessive force against an inmate
OATH ALJ Noel R. Garcia recommended a 10-day suspension without pay for a correction officer for excessive force against an inmate by unnecessarily placing his hand on the inmate’s face. Judge Garcia found the officer’s defense that he extended his hands to try to prevent the inmate from spitting on him unpersuasive as the officer had both time and opportunity to move away from the inmate.
However, ALJ Garcia found the Department of Correction did not prove the officer made a false report because the report noted that he did apply force to the inmate’s face.
Click HERE to access the full text of Judge Garcia's findings and recommendation.