Statute of limitations for filing Section 75 disciplinary charges

Statute of limitations for filing Section 75 disciplinary charges
Wade v Ticonderoga Town Board, 256 AD2d 860, motion for leave to appeal denied, 93 NY2d 804

Section 75 disciplinary charges were brought against John K. Wade, then serving as the Town of Ticonderoga’s chief of police. The charges alleged that Wade had engaged in sexual misconduct directed at town employees or former town employees. Wade was found guilty of the charges and the penalty imposed was dismissal.

Wade appealed, contending that certain charges filed against him were barred by the statute of limitations as they were brought more than 12 months after the relevant incident. He argued that Section 75.4’s 18-month statute of limitation for bring such charges did not apply in his case because he was a “managerial employee” and the statute of limitations for such employees is one-year after the occurrence of the alleged incompetency or misconduct occurred.

The Appellate Division, however, pointed out that Wade’s theory overlooked one critical phrase contained in Section 75.4: a “state employee who is designated managerial or confidential” within the meaning of the Taylor Law. The court said “the simple answer is that, as Chief of a Town police force, [Wade] was not a State employee.”

Accordingly, the court ruled, Section 75.4’s “general 18-month Statute of Limitations will govern all of the specifications against [Wade] except those which, “if proved in a court of appropriate jurisdiction, [would] constitute a crime, in which case no limitations period applies.”

Apparently some of the charges were brought more than 18 months after the underlying incident. The Appellate Division commented that such charges, “if established at trial, have made out either the crime of sexual abuse in the third degree [Penal Law Section 130.55] or the crime of aggravated harassment in the second degree [Penal Law Section 240.30(1)] or both.”

As to the penalty imposed, dismissal, the court said that Wade’s “unprovoked, unwelcome and unwarranted sexual advances, sexual contact and demeaning comments of a sexual nature directed to female employees were entirely inappropriate and constitute conduct unbecoming a police officer.”

Finding that the penalty was “by no means so disproportionate as to shock our sense of fairness,” the Appellate Division pointed out that in Petties v NYS Department of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities, 93 AD2d 960, it held that “sexual harassment in the work place is among the most offensive and demeaning torments an employee can undergo.”
NYPPL

Employee charged with “computer trespass” for allegedly tampering with department’s computer records

Employee charged with “computer trespass” for allegedly tampering with department’s computer records
Saunders v Washington County, 255 AD2d 788

After announcing that she was resigning her from position as payroll clerk with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, Mary Lou Saunders told a co-worker, Joanne Murone, she had deleted a budget report from the computer and planned on deleting other files.

Murone reported Saunders’ statement to her superiors and Saunders’ computer access code was deactivated the same day - July 22, 1992.

On July 23, 1992, a current purchase order list could not be retrieved from the computer. It was then discovered that between 9:30 a.m. and 9:42 a.m. “someone had accessed the computer from the communications center using Murone’s access code and deleted over 100 files.” When questioned by the Sheriff, Saunders admitted that she had used Murone’s access code without permission to delete the files, claiming that “she did not intentionally delete current files.”

During a subsequent investigation by the State Police, Saunders “indicated that she had been the subject of harassment at work and readily acknowledged that, after being denied access to the computer system, she used Murone’s code to delete files in an ‘attempt to show the department the value of [her] services.’”

Saunders was arrested and charged with a felony count of “computer trespass” [Penal Law Section 156.10(2)] and a misdemeanor count of tampering with public records ... [Penal Law Section 175.20]. The felony charge was reduced to misdemeanor.

After a jury acquitted Saunders of all charges, she sued the county, alleging “false arrest, malicious prosecution and defamation.” A State Supreme Court justice granted the county’s motion for summary judgment, dismissing Saunders’ petition.

With respect to Saunders’ allegations of false arrest and malicious prosecution, the Appellate Division affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of her complaint, indicating that “the unrefuted evidence in the record, including [Saunders’] own admissions and the statements of her co-workers, supports a finding that a reasonable person would have believed that [Saunders] had committed the crimes for which she was arrested.”

As to Saunders’ defamation claims, which was based on the Sheriff’s Department’s issuing a press release reporting her arrest, the Appellate Division pointed out that “truth constitutes a complete defense to such a claim.”

Since there was no substantive factual dispute that all the statements contained in the press release were true, the Appellate Division held that Saunders’ defamation cause of action was also properly dismissed by the lower court.
NYPPL

Employee denied unemployment insurance benefits following termination after threatening her supervisor

Employee denied unemployment insurance benefits following termination after threatening her supervisor
Tracy v Comm. of Labor, App. Div., 256 AD2d 800

In this age of voice mail and e-mail, it is relatively easy for an unhappy employee to leave a message for a supervisor and avoid a direct confrontation. As the Tracy case indicates, however, leaving a “vulgar and threatening message” on a superior’s voice mail will be treated as though the employee had made the offending statements in the supervisor’s presence.

Pamela A. Tracy was apparently upset about the manner in which management handled her complaints concerning a co-worker’s conduct. She left a “vulgar and threatening” message on her supervisor’s voice mail. As a result she was fired. The Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board ruled that she was disqualified from receiving benefits because her employment was terminated due to misconduct.”

The Appellate Division sustained the board’s decision. It said that it was “well settled that the use of vulgar language and disrespectful conduct towards supervisors constitutes disqualifying misconduct.”
NYPPL

Payments for superintendent’s doctorate studies by school district found lawful

Payments for superintendent’s doctorate studies by school district found lawful
Decisions of the Commissioner of Education, 14032

Taxpayer David Shufelt complained that the Board of Education of Webutuck Central School District in Dutchess County “authorized payments to district employees without formal resolution or public vote.”

Among the payments challenged by Shufelt was an “educational allowance” supporting the superintendent’s studies towards her doctorate degree. The Commissioner of Education dismissed Shufelt’s appeal as untimely but nevertheless commented that:

The superintendent’s contract clearly allowed for the board to pay her an educational allowance. [Shufelt] has failed to demonstrate that this benefit was in any way improper.
NYPPL

Goggle Blogger Reading List

Goggle Blogger Reading List
Source: Google

With the Blogger "Reading List" you can read all of the latest posts from your favorite blogs.

The "Blogger Reading List" you create enables you to subscribe to any blog with a feed* and will update instantly each time a new post is published on any blog listed on your "Blogger Reading List."

It is easy to add a blog to your Reading List, and it's a Google "free service." For additional information about creating a Blogger Reading List, please go to:

http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=99761

* NYPPL’s feed is “ATOM” and access is posted at the bottom of each day’s posting at

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)