Gabriele v. Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority

• Decision Date: 27 May 1997
• Parties: In the Matter of Vincent GABRIELE III, Respondent, v. METROPOLITAN SUBURBAN BUS AUTHORITY, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 761

657 N.Y.S.2d 761

239 A.D.2d 575

In the Matter of Vincent GABRIELE III, Respondent, v. METROPOLITAN SUBURBAN BUS AUTHORITY, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division,

Second Department.

May 27, 1997.

Doar Devorkin & Rieck, New York City, (Christopher E. Chang, of counsel), for appellant.

Charles D. Maurer, New York City, for respondent.

Before ALTMAN, J.P., and FRIEDMANN, GOLDSTEIN and LUCIANO, JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.

In a hybrid proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, inter alia, to review a determination of the Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority which denied the petitioner a promotion to the position of foreman based upon a purported anti-nepotism policy, and an action, inter alia, to recover damages for mental anguish, the Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority appeals (1), as limited by its brief, from so much of a judgment of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Segal, J.), entered April 10, 1996, as granted the petition and directed that the petitioner be appointed to a position as foreman nunc pro tunc to September 9, 1995, with full back pay and benefits, etc., and (2) from so much of an order of the same court, dated May 13, 1996, as upon, in effect, granting reargument, adhered to its original determination.

ORDERED that the appeal from the judgment entered April 10, 1996, is dismissed as superseded by the order made upon reargument; and it is further

ORDERED that the order dated May 13, 1996, is affirmed insofar as appealed from; and it is further

ORDERED that the petitioner is awarded one bill of costs.

The Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority (hereinafter MSBA), is a public corporation that provides bus service in western Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk Counties. The petitioner Vincent Gabriele III was hired by MSBA as a mail clerk/messenger on September 3, 1985. Over a period of 10 years, Gabriele was promoted several times and in September 1995 he was ranked third on a list of nine candidates considered for two positions of foreman. Ultimately, MSBA promoted the fifth and seventh candidates to the vacant foreman positions.

According to MSBA, the sole reason Gabriele was passed over was that his promotion would purportedly violate the company's anti-nepotism policy. Both Gabriele's father and uncle worked as foremen at MSBA in 1995. The record reveals, however, that there was no official anti-nepotism policy in effect until after the promotion decision at issue was made. The following facts are not in dispute: (1) the job listings for the foreman positions did not warn prospective candidates that they might be disqualified because of a company policy on nepotism; (2) the application forms did not disclose the existence of an anti-nepotism policy; (3) Gabriele was never advised before or during the application process that he was ineligible because his father and uncle were already serving as foremen; (4) the MSBA table of approved policy/instructions did not mention any anti-nepotism policy; (5) MSBA first distributed a memorandum on nepotism after Gabriele was rejected; (6) that memorandum expressly stated that the anti-nepotism policy...