An Education Law §3811[1] Certification of Good Faith requested by a Respondent in connection with an appeal to the Commissioner of Education is issued solely for the purpose of authorizing a board of education to indemnify such a Respondent for costs incurred in defending himself* in a proceeding arising out of the exercise of the Respondent’s powers or the performance of the Respondent’s duties as a board member, officer, employee or other actor described in §3811(1) unless the record establishes that the particular individual requesting such a certification acted in bad faith. Click on the URL below to access this decision posted on the Internet.
http://www.counsel.nysed.gov/Decisions/volume62/d18201
* §22 of New York State's General Construction Law, in pertinent part, provides that “Whenever words of the masculine or feminine gender appear in any law, rule or regulation, unless the sense of the sentence indicates otherwise, they shall be deemed to refer to both male or female persons.” Case summaries posted in NYPPL reflect this protocol.