New York Public Personnel Law

Jan 18, 2023

Election of remedies

Petitioner’s originally commenced a proceeding pursuant to Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules in Supreme Court. Supreme Court dismissed the Article 78 proceeding based on the understanding that Petitioner would have an opportunity to pursue her claim via an Education Law §310 appeal to the Commissioner of Education. The court had deferred to the Commissioner of Education and denied the Article 78 petition "without prejudice to renew [the claim] before the Commissioner of Education.” The Commissioner ruled that "[given] this language, it would be inconsistent with the court’s decision to dismiss this Education Law §310 appeal based on an election of remedies [argument as the school district] successfully moved to dismiss the Article 78 petition on the ground of primary jurisdiction and filed its motion approximately four months after petitioner’s union declined to pursue a grievance." In the words of the Commissioner, the school district "... had the opportunity to move to dismiss the Article 78 petition based on election of remedies but chose not to do so" and declined to dismiss Petitioner's §310 appeal based on the school district's election of remedies argument at this stage of the dispute. Click on the URL below to access this decision posted on the Internet:

http://www.counsel.nysed.gov/Decisions/volume62/d18216

Banning an individual from school district property

Local school boards “exercise ultimate authority for access to students, school buildings and school property generally” (Matter of Lloyd v Grella, 83 NY2d 537, 547 [1994], rearg denied 83 NY2d 1001 [1994]). School boards may impose reasonable restrictions on individuals’ access thereto (compare Appeal of Anonymous, 48 Ed Dept Rep 503, Decision No. 15,931 [reasonable restrictions upheld] and Appeal of Anonymous, 44 id. 260, Decision No. 15,167 [same] with Appeal of Anonymous, 48 id. 266, Decision No. 15,855 [“total ban” for indefinite period of time annulled]). Click on the URL below to access this decision posted on the Internet:

http://www.counsel.nysed.gov/Decisions/volume62/d18218

Jan 16, 2023

NYPPL's public personnel law handbooks

NYPPL's public personnel law handbooks, listed below, available for purchase from BookLocker, LLC.

The Discipline Book - A concise guide to disciplinary actions involving public officers and employees in New York State set out as an e-book. For more about this electronic handbook, click HERE.

A Reasonable Disciplinary Penalty Under the Circumstances- The text of this publication focuses on determining an appropriate disciplinary penalty to be imposed on an employee in the public service in instances where the employee has been found guilty of misconduct or incompetence. For more information click HERE.

Disability Benefits for fire, police and other public sector personnel - an e-book focusing on retirement for disability under the NYS Employees' Retirement System, the NYS Teachers' Retirement System, General Municipal Law Sections 207-a/207-c and similar statutes providing benefits to employees injured both "on-the-job" and "off-the-job." For more information about this e-book click HERE.

The Layoff, Preferred List and Reinstatement Manual -This e-book reviews the relevant laws, rules and regulations, and selected court and administrative decisions. Click HERE for more information.

Editor in Chief Harvey Randall served as Director of Personnel, SUNY Central Administration, Director of Research , Governor's Office of Employee Relations; Principal Attorney, Counsel's Office, New York State Department of Civil Service, and Colonel, New York Guard. Consistent with the Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations, the material posted to this blog is presented with the understanding that neither the publisher nor NYPPL and, or, its staff and contributors are providing legal advice to the reader and in the event legal or other expert assistance is needed, the reader is urged to seek such advice from a knowledgeable professional.

CAUTION

Subsequent court and administrative rulings, or changes to laws, rules and regulations may have modified or clarified or vacated or reversed the information and, or, decisions summarized in NYPPL. For example, New York State Department of Civil Service's Advisory Memorandum 24-08 reflects changes required as the result of certain amendments to §72 of the New York State Civil Service Law to take effect January 1, 2025 [See Chapter 306 of the Laws of 2024]. Advisory Memorandum 24-08 in PDF format is posted on the Internet at https://www.cs.ny.gov/ssd/pdf/AM24-08Combined.pdf. Accordingly, the information and case summaries should be Shepardized® or otherwise checked to make certain that the most recent information is being considered by the reader.