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Employee serving a disciplinary probationary period terminated after violation of the terms of a disciplinary settlement

Employee serving a disciplinary probationary period terminated after violation of the terms of a disciplinary settlement
Matter of Outley v Upstate Med. Univ., 2009 NY Slip Op 02162, Decided on March 20, 2009, Appellate Division, Fourth Department

Joanne Outley, an employee at SUNY?s Upstate Medical Center, was served with disciplinary charges alleging that she was guilty of excessive absences and disciplinary notifications UMC and Outley entered into a disciplinary settlement agreement that placed her on probation for a specified period of time and bar her taking any unauthorized absences.

Outley violated the terms of her disciplinary probation and was terminated. She challenged UMC?s action and won a Supreme Court decision annulling the Medical Center?s decision.

The Appellate Division, holding that ?Supreme Court erred in granting Outley?s petition. It said that the record establishes that Outley had violated the settlement agreement with an unauthorized absence, thus providing the Center with a legally sufficient basis for terminating her employment that was neither arbitrary nor capricious. Further, said the court, Outley failed to establish that she "was dismissed in bad faith or for an improper or impermissible reason."

It should be remembered, however, that such action is permitted only in the event the individual violates one or more of the terms or condition of his or her probationary period.

Further, the specific terms and conditions of a disciplinary settlement could prove critical if the employee is terminated for his or her alleged failure to satisfy the terms of his or her disciplinary probation.

In Taylor v Cass, 505 N.Y.S.2d 929, a Suffolk County employee won reinstatement with full retroactive salary and contract benefits after a court found that he was improperly dismissed while serving a disciplinary probation. Under the terms and conditions of the probation to which Taylor had agreed, the county could terminate him without any hearing if, in the opinion of his superior, his job performance was "adversely affected" by his "intoxication on the job" during the next six months.

Taylor, while subject to this probationary period, was terminated without a hearing for "failing to give a fair day's work" and "sleeping during scheduled working hours." He challenged his dismissal and won reinstatement with back salary. The Appellate Division decided that Taylor's dismissal was improper because Taylor was not terminated for the sole reason specified in the settlement: intoxication on the job.

The full text of the decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2009/2009_02162.htm

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on March 23, 2009 (boomark / email).