Employee alleged with having falsifying certain of his time and attendance records:
New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings [OATH] Administrative Law Judge [ALJ] Charlotte Davidson recommended termination of
employment of an investigator [Respondent] who, from
Respondent was entitled to unlimited sick leave but could be credited with a finite amount of accumulated annual leave credits and any unused annual leave credits would be paid to him upon his leaving his employment with the City.
Although some of the dates of Respondents alleged misconduct were beyond the 18-month statute of limitations for bringing disciplinary charges, Judge Davidson determined that such otherwise untimely charges filed against the Respondent fell under the criminal exception for bringing such charges.
Such alleged misconduct, if proven true, would constitute the crime of official misconduct because Respondent received a benefit by failing to accurately report certain of Respondent's absences as "sick time" and obtain approval to use sick leave credits in place of annual leave credits for such absences from work by falsely reporting such absences to the Department .
Noting Respondent’s position as a uniformed investigator entrusted with highly confidential information and investigations of potentially criminal matters, the ALJ held that Respondent must be held to a "high standard of integrity". Accordingly, Judge Davidson found that Respondent's lack of disciplinary record and satisfactory job performance were insufficient to mitigate such dishonesty and abuse of the use of sick leave credits by Respondent.
Click HERE to access Judge Davidson's findings and recommended disposition of this disciplinary action posted on the Internet.
Employee served with disciplinary charges alleging he sexually harassed coworkers:
OATH's ALJ Michael D. Turilli recommended termination of the employment of an employee [Respondent] found guilty of disciplinary charges alleging acts of sexual harassment of coworkers.
The ALJ denied the pro se Respondent’s motion to dismiss the charges for lack of jurisdiction and found that Respondent had sexually harassed the three coworkers in multiple incidents over the course of a year by making offensive remarks and obscene gestures, displaying a sexually explicit photograph, and making unwanted advances.
The ALJ found that the coworkers had provided credible and compelling testimony, which was corroborated by contemporaneous reports and were consistent with previous statements alleging such misbehavior. Indeed, the Administrative Law Judge found that Respondent’s own witness provided further corroboration of the alleged misconduct, testifying that two complainants had reported Respondent’s behavior to her.
Notwithstanding the Respondent’s 20-plus years of service and lack of any history of disciplinary action having been taken against Respondent in the past, Judge Turilli concluded that the penalty of termination from employment would be the appropriate penalty under the circumstances and recommended the imposition of the penalty of dismissal of the Respondent to the Appointing Authority.
Click HERE to access Judge Turilli's findings and recommended disposition of this disciplinary action posted on the Internet.