Opinion
15592, 651892/13
07-02-2015
In re Eric HAUBENSTOCK, Petitioner–Respondent, v. CITY OF NEW YORK, Respondent, New York City Department of Education, et al., Respondents–Appellants.
Zachary W. Carter, Corporation Counsel, New York (Janet L. Zaleon of counsel), for appellants. Glass Krakower, LLP, New York (Bryan D. Glass of counsel), for respondent.
Zachary W. Carter, Corporation Counsel, New York (Janet L. Zaleon of counsel), for appellants.
Glass Krakower, LLP, New York (Bryan D. Glass of counsel), for respondent.
MAZZARELLI, J.P., FRIEDMAN, RICHTER, MANZANET–DANIELS, GISCHE, JJ.
Opinion Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Margaret A. Chan, J.), entered June 18, 2014, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, following a hearing, granted the petition to vacate an arbitration award to the extent of vacating the penalty and remanding for determination of a lesser penalty, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the petition denied. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment confirming the award.
The penalty of termination does not shock our sense of fairness (see Lackow v. Department of Educ. [or “Board”] of City of N.Y., 51 A.D.3d 563, 569, 859 N.Y.S.2d 52 [1st Dept. 2008] ). Petitioner committed four separate acts of corporal punishment, in violation of Chancellor's Regulation A–420, which prohibits corporal punishment, defined as “any act of physical force upon a pupil for the purpose of punishing the pupil.” Three of these acts occurred after petitioner had been formally warned that any recurrence of his misconduct would result in further disciplinary action and he had been referred to a mandatory training workshop on “appropriate behavior intervention strategies.” We find petitioner's misconduct is highlighted by the fact that these pupils were non-verbal autistic children, incapable of protecting themselves or reporting what happened to them.