McFadden v. Board of Education of Nanuet Union Free School District

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York

McFadden v. Board of Education of Nanuet Union Free School District

153 A.D.2d 742, 544 N.Y.S.2d 885, 1989 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 11210

CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York

DecidedAugust 28, 1989

StatusPublished

This text of 153 A.D.2d 742 (McFadden v. Board of Education of Nanuet Union Free School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

McFadden v. Board of Education of Nanuet Union Free School District, 153 A.D.2d 742, 544 N.Y.S.2d 885, 1989 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 11210 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1989).

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Opinion

Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 to review a determination of the respondent Board of Education of the Nanuet Union Free School District, dated March 18, 1987, which, after a hearing, found the petitioner guilty of conduct unbecoming a teacher and imposed a penalty of suspension from his position as a school teacher, without pay, from April 1, 1987, to December 31, 1987.

Adjudged that the petition is granted, on the law, without costs or disbursements, to the extent that the penalty imposed is annulled; the determination is otherwise confirmed, the proceeding is otherwise dismissed, without costs or disbursements, and the matter is remitted to the respondent for the imposition of a new penalty not to exceed suspension, without pay, for a period of six months, and to determine the amount of back pay to which petitioner is entitled.

The record contains substantial evidence to support the respondent’s determination, adopting the factual findings of the majority of the hearing panel, that the petitioner was guilty of 4 of the 7 charges of conduct unbecoming a teacher (see, Matter of Silberfarb v Board of Coop. Educ. Servs., 60 NY2d 979). None of the sustained charges involved illegal conduct or an act of moral turpitude. Rather the conduct unbecoming a teacher pertained to the petitioner’s choice of language directed to various students. In light of all circumstances of this case, particularly the petitioner’s unblemished, 17-year teaching record in the school district, a sanction of suspension without pay for a period in excess of six months is so disproportionate to the offense as to be shocking to one’s sense of fairness (Matter of Pell v Board of Educ., 34 NY2d 222, 233). Accordingly, we have modified the determination by annulling the penalty of suspension, without pay, for a period [743]*743of nine months; and the matter is remitted to the respondent for the imposition of a new penalty not to exceed suspension, without pay, for a period of six months. Mollen, P. J., Thompson, Rubin and Spatt, JJ., concur.

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Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 to review a determination of the respondent Board of Education of the Nanuet Union Free School District, dated March 18, 1987, which, after a hearing, found the petitioner guilty of conduct unbecoming a teacher and imposed a penalty of suspension from his position as a school teacher, without pay, from April 1, 1987, to December 31, 1987.

Adjudged that the petition is granted, on the law, without costs or disbursements, to the extent that the penalty imposed is annulled; the determination is otherwise confirmed, the proceeding is otherwise dismissed, without costs or disbursements, and the matter is remitted to the respondent for the imposition of a new penalty not to exceed suspension, without pay, for a period of six months, and to determine the amount of back pay to which petitioner is entitled.

The record contains substantial evidence to support the respondent’s determination, adopting the factual findings of the majority of the hearing panel, that the petitioner was guilty of 4 of the 7 charges of conduct unbecoming a teacher (see, Matter of Silberfarb v Board of Coop. Educ. Servs., 60 NY2d 979). None of the sustained charges involved illegal conduct or an act of moral turpitude. Rather the conduct unbecoming a teacher pertained to the petitioner’s choice of language directed to various students. In light of all circumstances of this case, particularly the petitioner’s unblemished, 17-year teaching record in the school district, a sanction of suspension without pay for a period in excess of six months is so disproportionate to the offense as to be shocking to one’s sense of fairness (Matter of Pell v Board of Educ., 34 NY2d 222, 233). Accordingly, we have modified the determination by annulling the penalty of suspension, without pay, for a period [743]*743of nine months; and the matter is remitted to the respondent for the imposition of a new penalty not to exceed suspension, without pay, for a period of six months. Mollen, P. J., Thompson, Rubin and Spatt, JJ., concur.

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Bluebook (online)

153 A.D.2d 742, 544 N.Y.S.2d 885, 1989 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 11210, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcfadden-v-board-of-education-of-nanuet-union-free-school-district-nyappdiv-1989.

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