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Organizer of 'Club' Deriding Co-Worker Properly Fired, N.Y. Court Concludes
New York Law Journal
November 19, 2009
A New York appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a county worker who helped organize an on-the-job "club," dubbed the "I Hate Teena Club," to show her disdain for a co-worker.
The 4-0 Appellate Division, 3rd Department, panel found that a hearing officer reasonably concluded that Penny Sindoni had created a "hostile, intimidating, disruptive" and "uncomfortable" work environment by showing animosity for co-worker Christeenia Cargill.
Those activities were sufficient to sustain charges leading to dismissal against Sindoni under Civil Service Law §75 and employee conduct rules established by her employer, Tioga County, the court held in Matter of Sindoni v. County of Tioga (pdf), 506921.
The decision detailed the strained work environment in the Tioga County Health Department office where Sindoni, an 11-year employee, was a senior typist. Cargill works with special needs clients for the agency.
Sindoni was accused of helping organize a group of five other employees that became known as the "I Hate Teena Club," using the name that Cargill goes by.
Sindoni wore a ribbon that identified her as a central figure in the "club," according to the decision. She countered that she wore the ribbon in sympathy for two employees who worked under Cargill and that it did not signify her status in the group.
Though she denied it, the 3rd Department ruling said it was also well known in the office that Sindoni attempted to recruit other members to join the group.
Other formal allegations against Sindoni were that she kept a calendar of Cargill's late arrivals and early departures, solicited others to monitor her fellow employee's whereabouts and that she engaged in a "loud verbal exchange" with Cargill that disrupted the work place.
There were also indications she made unspecified threatening comments to coworkers that made them "concerned about their physical safety and the safety of their personal property," according to last week's ruling.
Sindoni worked for Tioga County from 1997 until her termination in February 2008 following a hearing officer's recommendation. Cargill joined the department in April 2005.
The court concluded that while the evidence "could support a different result from the one reached by the hearing officer," the appeals court could not substitute its judgment for that of the officer and it had to defer to credibility determinations made by the officer.
"Our review of the record reveals sufficient evidence of petitioner's misconduct to support the Hearing Officer's determination sustaining the relevant charges against her," the appellate panel held in a ruling written by Justice Leslie E. Stein.
Nor was Sindoni's dismissal excessive, even though the other members of "I Hate Teena Club" received lesser sanctions and were allowed to retain their jobs, Stein wrote.
"Here, the Hearing Officer specifically distinguished petitioner from the other participants in the activities constituting the misconduct and recommended petitioner's dismissal, in part, because she was 'the only employee who made threats to the person or property of others,'" Stein wrote. "The Hearing Officer also determined that petitioner was the main player in the hate club and noted that she had not expressed any remorse regarding her comment."
Justices Robert S. Rose, William E. McCarthy and Elizabeth Garry concurred.
The Article 78 proceeding had been transferred to the 3rd Department by Tioga County Supreme Court.
'AN UNFAIR PROCEEDING'
Sindoni's attorney, Daren J. Rylewicz, said he was reviewing the ruling for the possibility of an appeal.
Rylewicz, who represented all six members of the "I Hate Teena Club" in the administrative proceedings against them, said he could not understand how "essentially six women committed the same or similar conduct and five women were not fired."
Rylewicz said he was "stunned" when the dismissal determination was made against Sindoni.
He blamed Civil Service Law §75 for giving public employers a stacked deck by allowing them to select hearing officers in disciplinary cases and also paying them. Public employers also have the option of adopting or rejecting the recommendations of the hearing officers they select, he said.
"Essentially, it is an unfair proceeding," complained Rylewicz, an attorney for the Albany-based Civil Service Employees Association public employee union. All six women are CSEA members.
Rylewicz also contended that Sindoni received the harshest penalties of any of the "I Hate Teena Club" because Sindoni is a CSEA shop steward in her unit.
He said the union also has filed a complaint before the Public Employment Relations Board that contends Sindoni's dismissal was unfairly related to her union activities.
Of the other five club members, Rylewicz said one was suspended for one month, two were suspended for five days and two received letters of reprimand.
Sindoni made about $30,000 a year as a senior typist, Rylewicz said.
Her dismissal came despite her receiving years of excellent evaluations, a record that the 3rd Department noted did not outweigh the hearing officer's conclusion that dismissal was warranted because of her conduct.
Edward J. Sarzynski of Hogan, Sarzynski, Lynch, Surowka & DeWind in Binghamton, N.Y., represented Tioga County. He did not return a call seeking comment.
