The New Jersey Supreme Court heard oral arguments in an appeal brought by an assistant high school principal which called into question the authority of an arbitrator to demote an employee under the Tenure Employees Hearing Law.

The case stems from an incident at Memorial High School in West New York in which Assistant Principal Amada Sanjuan fell down a stairway on Feb. 12, 2020. The next day, Sanjuan told the school district’s benefits coordinator that she saw a piece of paper on the steps, then slipped and lost her balance, hitting her head on the concrete floor. But a surveillance video of the stairwell showed Sanjuan falling down the steps, then taking a piece of paper out of her purse, walking halfway up the stairs and placing the piece of paper on a step, according to the Appellate Division opinion in the case.