The Appellate Division denied a petition of an employee [Plaintiff] seeking to annul the appointing authority's [Employer] decision to terminate the employment of the Plaintiff before she completed her probationary period.
The court opined that as probationary employee, Plaintiff "may be discharged for any or no reason at all in the absence of a showing that ... her dismissal was in bad faith, for a constitutionally impermissible purpose or in violation of law", citing Smith v New York City Department of Corrections, 292 AD2d 198.
The Appellate Division noted Plaintiff alleged "no unlawful motive for her termination and failed to satisfy her burden of demonstrating bad faith". Further, said the court, Petitioner's own affidavits attesting to her satisfactory job performance "did not create a substantial issue of bad faith sufficient to warrant a hearing in light of [the Employer's] submission of a termination memo documenting several performance failures, which provided a rational basis for [Employer's] decision".
As the Court of Appeals opined in York v McGuire, 63 NY2d 760, "After completing his or her minimum period of probation and prior to completing his or her maximum period of probation, a probationary employee can be dismissed without a hearing and without a statement of reasons, as long as there is no proof that the dismissal was done for a constitutionally impermissible purpose, or in violation of statutory or decisional law, or the decision was made in bad faith."
Click HERE to access the Appellate Division's decision posted on the Internet.