Union’s demand that GML §207-c the individual continue to receive benefits pending a hearing and determination is mandatorily negotiable

Union’s demand that GML §207-c the individual continue to receive benefits pending a hearing and determination is mandatorily negotiable

Baldwinsville Police Benevolent Association and Village of Baldwinsville, 44 PERB ¶3031, U-29453, U-29481 

PERB held that that a General Municipal Law (GML) §207-c proposal that would require a continued receipt of benefits pending a hearing and determination is mandatorily negotiable because the proposal seeks a contractual codification of a unit member’s constitutionally protected property right of continued GML §207-c benefits, which can not be terminated without due process.

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General Municipal Law§§ 207-a and 207-c- a 1098 page e-book focusing on administering General Municipal Law Sections 207-a/207-c and providing benefits thereunder is available from the Public Employment Law Press. Click on http://section207.blogspot.com/for additional information about this electronic reference manual.

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A finding of incompetence in a §75 disciplinary proceeding only requires evidence of some dereliction or neglect of duty

A finding of incompetence in a §75 disciplinary proceeding only requires evidence of some dereliction or neglect of duty

Gibson v Board of Educ. for The City School Dist. of Albany,2012 NY Slip Op 04441, Appellate Division, Third Department

A City School District of Albany account clerk was charged with two specifications of incompetence: unsatisfactory work performance and excessive absenteeism, during the 2009-2010 school year. Following a hearing pursuant to Civil Service Law §75, account clerk was found guilty of both specifications and the Hearing Officer recommended dismissal as a penalty to be imposed.

The appointing authority accepted the Hearing Officer's findings and recommendation and terminated account clerk's employment with the school district. Contending that the evidence did not support the Board's finding that her conduct and deficiencies rose to the level of incompetence, and that dismissal is an inappropriate and excessive penalty, the account clerk appealed.

The Appellate Division ruled that “The determination of the Board must be upheld where, as here, it is supported by substantial evidence,” explaining that "a finding of incompetence only requires evidence of some dereliction or neglect of duty." Further, said the court, testimony by the account clerk’s immediate supervisors, coworkers and two district-level assistant supervisors, and the documentary evidence — including the clerk's employee evaluations in March 2009 and May 2010 and attendance records — “provided overwhelming evidence to substantiate each of the specifications of misconduct.”

As to the penalty imposed, dismissal, the Appellate Division said that “on the record before us, we do not find the penalty of termination shocking to the judicial conscience,” citing Kelly v Safir, 96 NY2d 32, and Pell v Board of Educ. of Union Free School Dist. No. 1 of Towns of Scarsdale & Mamaroneck, Westchester County, 34 NY2d 222, explaining that the individual was “given numerous warnings over a period of many years and failed to assume responsibility for her shortcomings.”

Accordingly, said the court, “In view of the foregoing, the Board's implicit conclusion that further attempts to rehabilitate and retrain petitioner would be futile is neither unfair, shocking nor an abuse of discretion.”

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2012/2012_04441.htm

Civil Service Commission permitted to rely on appointing authority’s medical expert’s opinion where medical experts differ concerning applicant’s medical condition

Civil Service Commission permitted to rely on appointing authority’s medical expert’s opinion where medical experts differ concerning applicant’s medical condition
Matter of Altieri v City of New York Civ. Serv. Commn. 57 AD3d 248

Anthony Altieri sued the New York City Civil Service Commission after it disqualified him for appoint to the position of sanitation worker because of Altieri’s cardiac condition

The Appellate Division said that the Commission was entitled to rely on the opinion of the Department of Sanitation's medical director that Altieri's appointment as a sanitation worker would put Altieri “at serious risk.”

The fact that Altieri’s treating physician’s opinion disagreed with the Department’s medical director’s opinion does not tend to show that the Commission "acted illegally or capriciously or adopted a professional opinion not founded on a rational basis."

Further, the Appellate Division commented that Altieri’s disqualification for medical reasons “cannot be the predicate of a discrimination claim under Executive Law §296(1)(a).”

The full text of the decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2008/2008_09487.htm

 

The timeliness an unfair practice charge measured from the date on which the party adversely affected learned [or should have known] of the event

The timeliness an unfair practice charge measured from the date on which the party adversely affected learned [or should have known] of the event
Levi Mcintyre And Middle Island Administrators Association and Longwood Central School District, ALJ Blassman, U-27349

A PERB ALJ dismissed a charge alleging that the Association violated of its duty of fair representation §209a.2(c) of the Act in breach as untimely.

The Association agreed to a collectively negotiated agreement that gave Levi McIntyre a lower total wage increase than other unit employees during the life of the agreement. McIntyre advanced two arguments with respect to his contention that his charge was timely: (1) that timeliness did not begin to run until he learned of the retirement of the Association's president, who was the only other unit employee who was similarly situated to McIntyre under the agreement or, in the alternative, the statute of limitations not begin to run until the second year of the agreement, which was when McIntyre alleged he was first negatively impacted by the agreement.

The ALJ ruled that McIntyre was adversely affected by the agreement when the Association agreed to it and thus his time to file a charge began to run from the date he learned of its provisions and how they affected him.

[See, also, Police Benevolent Association of Elmira, New York, Inc. and City Of Elmira, U-27466, in which the Board affirmed the decision of its ALJ dismissing an improper practice charge as untimely after determining that the PBA had actual knowledge of the triggering event more than four months before it filed its improper practice charge and failed to demonstrate that Elmira was equitably estopped from asserting its timeliness defense.]

A public employee’s retirement allowance paid by a public retirement system of this State ruled subject to the provisions of the Son of Sam Law

A public employee’s retirement allowance paid by a public retirement system of this State ruled subject to the provisions of the Son of Sam Law

New York State Off. of Victim Servs. v Raucci, 2012 NY Slip Op 04440, Appellate Division, Third Department

The issue in this action: Does Retirement and Social Security Law §110* insulate the retirement benefits from a public retirement system of this State from “the broad reach of the Son of Sam Law, which does not expressly exempt pension funds?”**

The Appellate Division held that such retirement benefits are not exempt from the Son of Sam Law.

Steven C. Raucci, a former employee of the Schenectady City School District, was sentenced to a lengthy prison term upon his conviction of numerous crimes arising out of his alleged detonation and attempted detonation of explosive devices at two of his victims' homes. Raucci began receiving a retirement allowance from the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System of approximately $5,800 per month.

The New York State Office of Victim Services sought a preliminary injunction prohibiting the withdrawal or transfer of those funds from Raucci’s inmate account. Raucci, and his spouse as “an interested person,” argued that RSSL §110 exempts the pension funds from garnishment or any other legal process.

Noting that prior to its amendment in 2001, the Son of Sam Law permitted victims to recover only "profits from a crime," i.e., property or income generated from the crime itself, the Legislature "expand[ed] the [Son of Sam] [L]aw to cover money and property that a convicted criminal receives from any source."

Accordingly, said the Court,  “The current version of the statute thus permits crime victims to commence an action ‘within three years of the discovery of any profits from a crime or funds of a convicted person’ broadly defined as "all funds and property received from any source by a person convicted of a specified crime (Executive Law § 632-a [1] [c]” [emphasis added by the court].

The Appellate Division said that only two categories of a convicted person's funds are not recoverable by crime victims: the first $1,000 in the convicted person's account and the first 10% of compensatory damages obtained by the convicted person in a civil judgment, less counsel fees.

* The decision summaries the provisions of §110 as follows: Retirement and Social Security Law §110 protects public employee pensions, providing that "[t]he right of a person to a pension . . . or a retirement allowance . . . to the return of . . . the pension . . . or retirement allowance itself . . . and the monies in [those] funds . . . [s]hall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, or any other process whatsoever, and . . . [s]hall be unassignable."

** The decision refers to both a “pension” and a “retirement allowance.” A retirement allowance consists of a “pension portion” determined by the employee’s final average salary and his or her “years of member service,” which is funded by employer contributions plus an “annuity portion” based on the actuarial value of the employee’s contributions, or contributions made on his or her behalf as of the date of his or her retirement.

NYPPL comments: This decision raises a number of questions that may have to be addressed by the courts or the legislature such as [1] Is a retirement allowance being received by a surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries of a retired public employee of this State subject to the Son of Sam Law? and [2] Is a retirement benefit being received by an individual or his or her beneficiary or beneficiaries from a retirement program or plan other than a public retirement system of this State subject to the Son of Sam Law?

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2012/2012_04440.htm