New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings Administrative Law Judge [ALJ] Tiffany Hamilton recommended a 60-day suspension for a correction officer [CO] who failed to cooperate with and threatened police officers during a traffic stop.
CO
was off-duty when she was pulled over for speeding. The ALJ found CO
failed to obey the officers’ directives to promptly hand over her driver
license and to step out of the vehicle. During the traffic stop, CO was on the
phone and made statements such as, “They lucky I don’t have a firearm” and
“Just give me the ticket, before I slap one of them.”
Judge
Hamilton rejected CO's argument that these statements were not threats because
they were not directed at the officers, holding that indirect statements made
in the presence of the intended recipient can constitute a threat for the purposes initiating disciplinary action.
Noting that it is well-established that an agency may discipline an employee for off-duty misconduct, the ALJ explained that "to do so, the agency must first establish a nexus between the alleged off-duty misconduct and the employee’s job duties". Judge Hamilton found "a sufficient nexus between a correction officer’s duties and the CO's failure to cooperate with police instructions" to conclude that the employer proved that the CO violated the employer's "Rules and Regulations" by failing to cooperate with NYPD officers by refusing to promptly present her driver's license or to step out of her vehicle as directed.
Click
HERE to access Judge Hamilton's
decision and recommendation posted on the Internet.