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A board of education may require any school district or BOCES employee to submit to a medical examination to determine his or her fitness for duty

A board of education may require any school district or BOCES employee to submit to a medical examination to determine his or her fitness for duty
Appeal of D.R. from action of the Board of Education of the South Orangetown Central School District regarding a personnel matter. Decisions of the Commissioner of Education No. 15,885

The South Orangetown Central School District School Board directed D.R., a secretarial assistant employed by the District, to appear for a medical examination. D.R.?s personal physician had advised her not to return to work due to severe depression and stated that D.R. was ?not fit to assume her job duties at [that] time.? After D.R. notified her supervisor of her physician?s advice, the District adopted a resolution ?authorizing its president to direct [D.R.] to undergo a comprehensive medical examination and evaluation pursuant to Education Law §913.?*

The President requested D.R. to contact the medical facility. D.R. appealed, contending that ?the express and sole purpose of Education Law §913 is to safeguard the health of students, which would not be furthered or served by her medical examination.?

D.R. argued that she had not been on school grounds for a substantial period of time, that her position does not place her in contact with students, and that she has received favorable past performance evaluations. In rebuttal, the District said that ?Education Law §913 provides it with the authority to direct a medical examination of any employee, not only those with direct student contact.?

The Commissioner dismissed D.R.?s appeal, ruling that she had ?failed to meet her burden? of proof. Noting that ?A board of education has a statutory right to order an employee to submit to a medical examination pursuant to Education Law §913,? the Commissioner said that the medical examination provisions set out in §913 apply to teachers and ?other employees? and the purpose of such examination is ?to determine the physical or mental capacity of ... [a] person to perform his or her duties.?

Commenting that the statute does not limit examinations to certain types of employees or duties, and has been applied to non-teaching personnel, citing Gardner v. Niskayuna Cent. School Dist., 42 AD 3d 633 and Brodsky v. Board of Educ., Brentwood Union Free School Dist., 64 AD 611, the Commissioner decided that based on the record before him, he could not conclude that the District actions constituted an abuse of authority or was arbitrary or capricious.

As D.R. representation that she had enjoyed favorable performance evaluations, the Commissioner said that although ?laudable,? such past evaluations ?are not an indicator of [D.R.?s] current physical and mental health or her present capacity to perform her duties.?

* Education Law §913 provides, in pertinent part: ?In order to safeguard the health of children attending the public schools, the board of education or trustees of any school district or a board of cooperative educational services shall be empowered to require any person employed by the board of education or trustees or board of cooperative educational services to submit to a medical examination by a physician or other health care provider of his or her choice or the director of school health services of the board of education or trustees or board of cooperative educational services, in order to determine the physical or mental capacity of such person to perform his or her duties."

The full text of the Commissioner's decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.counsel.nysed.gov/Decisions/volume48/d15885.htm

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on March 17, 2009 (boomark / email).