In Association of Surrogates and Supreme Court Reporters v. The State of New York Unified Court System , the New York County Supreme Court determined that the evidence supported the reporter's guilt of the disciplinary charges filed, and that her employment had been properly terminated.
When an appeal ensued, the Appellate Division, First Department, found there was substantial evidence that the reporter had been chronically late and had been convicted of "identity theft" in the State of New Jersey. While the reporter argued that her employer was prohibited from taking adverse employment action against her based on that conviction -- because of Correction Law §§ 752 and 753 -- the appellate court noted that such outcomes were permitted "where 'there is a direct relationship between the criminal offense and the specific employment.'"
The AD1 was of the opinion that there was a direct relationship between the reporter's criminal offense -- which involved identity theft and credit card fraud -- and her employment, "in which, as an officer of the court she was charged with producing a true, accurate and complete record of court proceedings."
Since the penalty imposed was not disproportionate to the offense, the AD1 refused to modify the outcome.
Make a record of that!
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Association of Surrogates and Supreme Court Reporters v. The State of New York Unified Court System