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Initiating disciplinary action

Initiating disciplinary action
Appeal of J.K., Commissioner of Education Decision 14,705

J.K., a tenured high school teacher, appealed the Glen Cove School District's dismissal of his sexual harassment complaint to the Commissioner of Education.

In the course of a meeting to discuss a memorandum circulated by one teacher to the other teachers in the department, J.K. asked the department coordinator whether individ­ual teachers were allowed to send memos to other teachers in the department, rather than distributing all memos through the coordinator's office. The coordinator replied, "[A]ny ... teacher has a right to distribute anything he or she wants. If you wanted to dis­tribute pornography, there would be nothing I could do about it."

The coordinator said that this statement was intended to state generally that the coordinator was not a censor, that staff members had freedom to distribute almost any material they wished among other staff members. The coordinator also stated that the statement was not intended to be a personal comment or attack against J.K. J.K. apparent­ly took the remark personally, especially the reference to pornography, and asserts that "he was shocked and insulted by this comment that was made in front of his entire de­partment."

As a result, J.K. filed a complaint with the superintendent on September 21, 2001 charg­ing the coordinator with sexual harassment. The district investigated J.K.'s complaint in accordance with its policy and ultimately concluded that the comment in question did not constitute sexual harassment as defined in the policy. J.K. appealed, arguing that the Commissioner should reverse the district's decision and require the coordinator to make a public apology to him.

The Commissioner dismissed J.K.'s appeal, stating that (1) he lack jurisdiction to grant the relief sought by J.K. and (2) that there is no legal basis for demanding such relief. In addition, the Commissioner said that J.K. seeking his "intervention in obtaining an apolo­gy," J.K. is in effect "asking that I engage in some form of discipline against the coordi­nator." In the words of the Commissioner:

I have previously held that it is the board of education that has the authority and respon­sibility to determine whether disciplinary action against a district employee is warranted, not the Commissioner.

The Commissioner also said that he agreed with the district's conclusion that "the [coor­dinator's] comment did not constitute sexual harassment under the definition contained in the district's policy" and that the district followed its procedures in investigating J.K.'s complaint.

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on June 02, 2008 (boomark / email).