Authority to issue Uniform Traffic Tickets

Authority to issue Uniform Traffic Tickets

Informal Opinions of the Attorney General: Informal Opinion 2012-07

The Attorney General advised the Village of Old Field that the Village's park rangers may issue uniform traffic tickets for violations of the Vehicle and Traffic Law within village parks. The park rangers, however, may not issue tickets for violations they observe on public streets while traveling between parks.

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/opinion/2012-7%20pw.pdf

Collective Bargaining Agreement may provide for an election of remedies with respect to Title VII complaints

Collective Bargaining Agreement may provide for an election of remedies with respect to Title VII complaints
Leonyer M. Richardson, v Commission on Human Rights, 532 F.3d 114

Does Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bar the inclusion of an election-of-remedies provision in a collective bargaining agreement?

EEOC contended that it does; the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities [CCHRO] – a defendant in this action, argued that Title VII does not prohibit such a provision to be negotiated and included in a collective bargaining agreement.

The Circuit Court decided that the law governing contracts that provide for the release or waive Title VII rights is independent of the law governing employer actions taken in retaliation for, and intended to deter, employee opposition to unlawful employment practices, including the filing of charges with the EEOC or its state counterpart.

Although there are limits regarding what a union may agree to in the course of collective bargaining, in this instance the court decided that Richardson’s union “has not transgressed them by contracting to limit an employee’s legal recourse under certain circumstances.*

The collective bargaining agreement in question merely provided that an aggrieved employee could either arbitrates her grievance or file a charge with the CCHRO.

Accordingly, the Circuit Court ruled that the Union had not discriminated against Richardson by its adhering to the election-of-remedies provision after she chose to file a charge with the CCHRO as the collective bargaining agreement “does not constitute a waiver of any statutory rights” and dismissed her appeal.

The full text of the decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov:8080/isysnative/RDpcT3BpbnNcT1BOXDA2LTA0NzQtY3Zfb3BuLnBkZg==/06-0474-cv_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov:8080/isysquery/irld5a2/10/hilite

* New York courts have held that an employee organization may, through collective bargaining, negotiate away an employee’s statutory right to a disciplinary procedure provided an alternate procedure providing for administrative due process is available to the individual [Matter of Hickey v New York City Dept. of Education, 17 NY3d 729. See, also, Antinore v State, 40 NY2d 6].

Selected reports and information published by New York State's Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli

Selected reports and information published by New York State's Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli

Office of the State Comptroller - Issued during the week of August 6 - 12, 2012

DiNapoli and HUD Uncover Financial Abuses by Former Troy Housing Authority Officials

The retired comptroller of the Troy Housing Authority took home $207,000 in inappropriate payments while collecting a public pension in apparent violation of state law, among other financial problems, according to a reportreleased Tuesday by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General. Video is also available here.

DiNapoli and Project Heart Announce Joint Effort to Reunite Holocaust Survivors and Heirs with Unclaimed Funds

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Project HEART (Holocaust Era Asset Restitution Taskforce) today announced a partnership to reunite Holocaust survivors and their heirs with unclaimed funds that are rightfully theirs.

Comptroller DiNapoli Releases School Audit

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli Wednesday announced his office completed an audit of the New Roots Charter School.

Comptroller DiNapoli Releases Municipal Audits

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli Wednesday announced his office completed the following audits: the Village of Bergen; the Big Flats Fire District No. 1; the Caneadea Fire District; the Village of Canton; the Town of Champlain; the City of Rochester; and, the Spencerport Volunteer Fireman’s Association, Inc.

Administrative disciplinary action involving charges based on employee’s being convicted of crime

Administrative disciplinary action involving charges based on employee’s being convicted of crime

NYC Department of Sanitation v Anonymous, OATH Index No. 1159//12

A New York City sanitation police officer was served with disciplinary charges after he was convicted of possession of cocaine in federal court.

New York City’s Executive Order 16 of 1978 provides for the dismissal of any City employee who is convicted of a crime relating to their employment, “involving moral turpitude or which bears upon their fitness to perform their duties … absent compelling mitigating circumstances.” 

In defending himself in the administrative disciplinary proceeding the employee argued that his experience as a first responder on September 11 had left him with PTSD, causing depression and substance abuse. 

OATH Administrative Law Judge Ingrid M. Addison found that the individual’s conviction related to his employment as a law enforcement officer and bore upon his fitness to perform the duties of that job.  As to “mitigating circumstances” that might be a factor with respect to his misconduct, Judge Addison found his claims “insufficiently compelling” and recommended that respondent be terminated from his employment.

N.B. Public Officers Law §30.1.e provides, in pertinent part, that a public office shall become vacant “by operation of law” upon the incumbent’s “conviction of a felony, or a crime involving a violation of his oath of office…. “ A police officer is a “public officer” within the meaning of POL §30.1.e.

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://archive.citylaw.org/oath/12_Cases/12-1159.pdf