Tinter v. Bd. of Trs. of the Pound Ridge Library Dist.
| Decision Date | 29 November 2017 |
| Docket Number | 2017–03832 |
| Citation | 155 A.D.3d 1054,66 N.Y.S.3d 526 |
| Parties | In the Matter of Marilyn TINTER, petitioner, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF the POUND RIDGE LIBRARY DISTRICT, et al., respondents. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
155 A.D.3d 1054
66 N.Y.S.3d 526
In the Matter of Marilyn TINTER, petitioner,
v.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF the POUND RIDGE LIBRARY DISTRICT, et al., respondents.
2017–03832
Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.
Submitted October 24, 2017
November 29, 2017
Meyers Tersigni Feldman & Gray LLP, New York, N.Y. (Anthony L. Tersigni and Andrea Tersigni of counsel), for petitioner.
RUTH C. BALKIN, J.P., LEONARD B. AUSTIN, SANDRA L. SGROI, VALERIE BRATHWAITE NELSON, JJ.
DECISION & JUDGMENT
Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 to review a determination of the Board of Trustees of the Pound Ridge Library District, dated September 26, 2016, which adopted the recommendation of a Hearing Officer, made after a hearing, finding the petitioner guilty of charges of misconduct and incompetence, and terminated her employment as the Director of the Pound Ridge Library.
ADJUDGED that the petition is granted, on the law, without costs or disbursements, to the extent that so much of the determination as found the petitioner guilty of charges one, three, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven and specifications
six, seven, eight, and nine of charge two is annulled, those charges and specifications are dismissed, the penalty imposed is vacated, the petition is otherwise denied, the determination is otherwise confirmed, the proceeding is otherwise dismissed on the merits, and the matter is remitted to the Board of Trustees of the Pound Ridge Library District for a new consideration of the appropriate penalty to be imposed in accordance herewith, and the imposition of such a penalty thereafter.
The petitioner commenced this proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 to review a determination of the Board of Trustees of the Pound Ridge Library District (hereinafter the Board) adopting the findings of a Hearing Officer that the petitioner was guilty of certain charges of misconduct and incompetence, and terminating her employment. In an order dated April 3, 2017, the Supreme Court transferred the proceeding to this Court pursuant to CPLR 7804(g).
Contrary to the petitioner's contention, the Board's minutes reflecting a resolution to appoint the Hearing Officer and a letter addressed to the Hearing Officer on Pound Ridge Library letterhead and signed by the Board's president, advising that the Hearing Officer had been designated to hold a hearing on the disciplinary charges preferred against the petitioner and on amendments or supplements to the charges as might thereafter be preferred, sufficiently documented the validity of the Hearing Officer's appointment and satisfied the relevant provisions of Civil Service Law § 75(2) (see Matter of McKenzie v. Board of Educ. of the City Sch. Dist. of Albany, 100 A.D.3d 1096, 1097–1098, 952 N.Y.S.2d 860 ; Matter of Perryman v. Village of Saranac Lake, 64 A.D.3d 830, 832–833, 881 N.Y.S.2d 693 ; Matter of Stafford v. Board of Educ. of Mohonasen Cent. School Dist., 61 A.D.3d 1259, 1259–1260, 877 N.Y.S.2d 503 ; Matter of Salley v. Hempstead School Dist., 121 A.D.2d 547, 548, 504 N.Y.S.2d 30 ; see also Matter of Ost v. Supervisor of Town of Woodstock, 251 A.D.2d 724, 726, 673 N.Y.S.2d 768 ).
Civil Service Law § 75(2) provides, inter alia, that in a case where a hearing officer is designated, he or she must "make a record of such hearing which shall, with his [or her] recommendations, be referred to [the officer or body having the power to remove the person against whom the charges were preferred] for review and decision." Individuals "who are personally or extensively involved in the disciplinary process should disqualify themselves from reviewing the recommendations of a Hearing Officer and from acting on the charges" (...
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