New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings' Administrative Law Judge [ALJ] Astrid B. Gloade recommended a 22-day suspension without pay as the penalty to be imposed on an agency employee [Respondent] charged with, and found guilty of, insubordination and making a false, deceptive, and misleading entry into an agency record.
After being directed not to do so, Respondent worked on and sent emails concerning matters not assigned to her and copied the agency's Commissioner and the agency's Deputy Commissioner on routine work emails. Respondent also submitted a request to the agency's Office of Information Technology [OIT] service desk for assistance on behalf of the Commissioner without the Commissioner's knowledge or approval in an effort to restore Respondent's access to an agency database.
The ALJ found that Respondent willfully disobeyed Respondent's supervisor’s clear and unambiguous instructions that Respondent:
[1] not send emails regarding issues not assigned to her, and, in addition,
[2] not to send emails addressed to individuals outside Respondent's chain of command.
Judge Gloade also found that Respondent made a false entry in agency records when she submitted an OIT ticket "on the Commissioner’s behalf" without authorization and misrepresented that she sent the request on the Commissioner’s behalf.
The ALJ recommended Respondent be suspended for 22 days without pay, noting the recommended penalty was coupled with a 15-day prehearing suspension that Respondent had already served.
Click HERE to access Judge Gloade's findings and recommended penalty posted on the Internet.