In this CPLR Article 78 action Plaintiff sought judicial review of a revised determination of the New York State Office of Court Administration's Deputy Chief Administrative Judge adoption of the report and recommendations of a disciplinary hearing officer, made after a hearing, finding that the Plaintiff was guilty of misconduct and recommended the termination the Petitioner's employment as a court officer.
Plaintiff had been employed as a court officer by the New York State Unified Court System [UCS] for approximately 14 years and it was alleged Plaintiff had in engaged in specified acts of misconduct when Plaintiff shared 26 posts on Facebook that featured biased and discriminatory language and images. Plaintiff denied the charge.
At the conclusion of Plaintiff's disciplinary hearing, the hearing officer issued a report finding Plaintiff guilty of each specified act of misconduct and recommended that the Plaintiff be terminated. The Deputy Chief Administrative Judge adopted the hearing officer's report and recommendations and terminated the Plaintiff's employment. Thereafter, the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge issued a revised determination in which he again adopted the hearing officer's report and recommendation and terminated the Plaintiff's employment.
Plaintiff then commenced a proceeding pursuant to CPLR Article 78 seeking judicial review of the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge's revised determination.
The Appellate Division, in its decision, noted:
1. In a proceeding pursuant to CPLR Article 78, "Judicial review of an administrative determination made after a hearing required by law, at which evidence was taken, is limited to whether that determination is supported by substantial evidence" (see Matter of Afolayan v Industrial Bd. of Appeals, 229 AD3d 698]";
2. "Substantial evidence is such relevant proof as a reasonable mind may accept as adequate to support a conclusion or ultimate fact", which is a "minimal standard, demanding only that a given inference is reasonable and plausible, not necessarily the most probable; and
3. "Where substantial evidence exists, the reviewing court may not substitute its judgment for that of the agency, even if the court would have decided the matter differently".
The Appellate Division found that Plaintiff's alleged misconduct was supported by substantial evidence as "OCA demonstrated that the biased nature of the [Plaintiff's] comments, which were connected to a public Facebook profile that identified him as a Sergeant with UCS, and violated the internal rules and regulations, as well as the ethical codes, of UCS". The Appellate Division then said "given the public facing nature of the [Plaintiff's] position in a system that requires fairness and equality, the administrative record supports the conclusion that the bias illustrated by the [Plaintiff's] posts negatively impacted UCS's ability to maintain neutrality and serve vulnerable populations".
Addressing Plaintiff's contention that the revised disciplinary determination violate Plaintiff's First Amendment right to free speech, the Appellate Division opined that OCA had met its burden of establishing that discipline arising out of the Plaintiff's otherwise protected activity was justified. Further, the Appellate Division opined that the revised determination did not violate the Plaintiff's First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion, "because the prohibition on discriminatory speech was neutral with respect to religion and generally applicable to all UCS employees".
Turning to the disciplinary penalty imposed on Plaintiff, the Appellate Division noted that such review "is limited to whether the measure or mode of penalty or discipline imposed constitutes an abuse of discretion as a matter of law" and the administrative penalty imposed "must be upheld unless it is so disproportionate to the offense as to be shocking to one's sense of fairness".
The Appellate Division concluded that, contrary to the Plaintiff's contention, the "penalty of termination of employment was not so disproportionate to the offense as to be shocking to one's sense of fairness", confirmed the revised disciplinary determination, denied the petition, and dismissed the proceeding, citing Matter of Phelps v State of N.Y.—Unified Ct. Sys., 208 AD3 880 and Sekul v City of Poughkeepsie, 195 AD3d 622.
Click HERE to access the Appellate Division's decision posted on the Internet.