Matter of Cacciuttolo v Port Authority of NY & NJ

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Matter of Cacciuttolo v Port Authority of NY & NJ 2012 NY Slip Op 30834(U) March 30, 2012 Sup Ct, New York County Docket Number: 107365/11 Judge: Doris Ling-Cohan Republished from New York State Unified Court System's E-Courts Service. Search E-Courts (http://www.nycourts.gov/ecourts) for any additional information on this case. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication. SCANNED ON41312012 [* 1] SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK .. . ~ - --- - --I I ~ F d e x Number. 107365/2011 CACClUlTOLO, LOUIS PART 3 6 stice VS. PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK 8, NJ INDEX NO. SEQUENCE NUMBER. 001 MOTION DATE ARTICLE 78 MOTION SEQ. NO. .. - - - ", -_ _- lotion tolfor Notice of MotionlOrder to Show Cause -Affidavits - Exhibits Answering Affidavits - Exhibits . w r L 78 p I Nos.-) ( / c ~ IW s ) . r.- IWS). L Replylng Affldavits Upon the foregoing papers, it is ordered that this &tb&- f h & 7-8/ A a & L-7 UNFILED JUDGMENT 7hls judgment has not been entered by the County Clerk and n c r h o entry cannol be served based hereon, To f obtain entry, counsel or authorized representative must rapoearh pecson atthehdgmnt Clerk's Desk(R0om 14ieh / , J.S.C. 1. CHECK ONE: ..................................................................... 2. CHECK AS APPROPRIATE: 3. CHECK IF APPROPRIATE: JUDGE DORIS LING-COHAN d 0 NON-FINAL DISPOSITION CASE DISPOSED ........................... MOTION IS: 0GRANTED ................................................ 0SETTLE ORDER u DO NOT POST DENIED OTHER GRANTED IN PART SUBMIT ORDER 0FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT 0REFERENCE [* 2] SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK: IAS PART 36 .................................................................... X I n the Mattcr of the Application of LOIJIS CACCIU T I C)LO, Petitioner, For a Judgment Pursuant to Article 78 of the Civil Practice I,aw and Rules directing the Rcspondenl t o comply with PANYNJ A 1 20-1.18 and lo providc the Petitioner with thc appropriate remcdial action based upon Petitioncr s allegations Index No.: 107365/11 13EC I S ION/O R I1E I< Motion Scq. No.: 001 I n this Article 78 procccding, petitioner Louis Chcciuttolo (Cacciultolo) sccks a judgment (motion sequence number 001 j. For the following reasons, this petition is denied. FA C 13 Petitioner Louis Cacciuttolo (Cacciuttolo), a resident ol: Sullivan County, New York, is a former cmploycc of the respondent Port Authorily of New York & New Jersey (the PA). ,See Petition, 711 1-3. Cacciuttolo was first hired on March 1, 1982, and eventirally accepted a buy-out offer and voluntarily retired f?om the PA on Novernbcr 18, 201 0. Id., 114. In 1996, Cacciuttolo liad bccn promoted to the position of General Manager - Supervisor, and hc ultimately retired from the job title o r Construction Coordinator. Id., 7 3. During his tenure with the PA, however, Cacciuttolo was the subject of disciplinary charges on several occasions, mostly as a result or disputes with h i s fellow supervisors and repeated failures to 1 [* 3] attend required meetings. ihose charges were sct forth in memoranda that the PA filed on August 17, 2005, April 4, 2007, July 30, 2007 and June 19, 2008. See Hanks Affirmation in Support o l Answer; Iixhibits 6, 15, 16, 21. All ofthc charges were submittcd to arbitration. The August 17,2005 charges werc upheld in a decision, dated July 8, 2006, in which a flve-day job suspension was iniposcd on Cacciuttolo that was satisfied by time served. Id.; Exhibit 12. The April 4 and July 30, 2007 chargcs were also upheld in separate arbitrators decisions, both dated December 6, 2007, that imposed job suspensions on Cacciuttolo of 15 days and 25 days (with an additional 35 days held in abeyance), respectively. Id.; Exhibits 17, 18. Finally, the June 19, 2008 chargcs were resolved via stipulation, on the record bcfore ; hearing officer, on July 28, 1 2009, in which Cacciuttolo agrecd to ajob suspension of65 days, consisting of 30 days idating to those charges, and the 35 days that had been held in abeyancc i n the prior decision, with the discrelion. Id.; Exhibit 24. suspension to be served at ~iianagc~nent s On March 25, 2010, Cacciuttolo s attorney sent the PA a letter in which it was claiined that inanagcment had filcd the June 19, 2008 charges against him improperly, and in violation of thc PA s whistlcblower protection rule, as a rcsult or a complainl that lic had Glcd earlier that month against his supervisors rcgarding their allcged impropcr disposal of asbestos at a work site. Scc Petition, Exhibit A. 0 1Fcbruaiy 1 22, 201 1, after conducting a hearing and investigation, the PA s Ofiicc of Investigations (()ICY) sent Chcciuttolo a letter dccision that includcd the lbllowing findings: Based on this investigation, it was deterinined that the disciplinary action and other events cxpcricnced by Mi+.Cacciuttolo were not taken in retaliation for Mr. C acciuttolo s having made a report to the OIG, ;is is required by [the whistlcblower protection rule] l or a hiding of adverse persoimcl action against an employee. The process of conimcncing disciplinaiy action against Mr. 2 [* 4] Cacciuttolo began iiiinicdiately after he missed the meeting in April 2008 and involved the participation and scrutiny of several disparate individuals. Mr. Cacciuttolo s prior disciplinary rccord was a factor in commencing this disciplinary action. Mr. Cacciuttolo made his report regarding an asbestos matter to the OIG months after the start ol tlie process of disciplinary action. Individuals involved in the disciplinary process against Mr. Cacciuttolo were not aware that he had made a report to the OIG. Additionally, the investigation revealed no evidence that the disciplinary action and other events experienced by Mr. Cacciuttolo took place lor any reason, other than on their merits. As a result, the iiivestigation demonstrated that Mr. Cacciuttolo s claim of retaliation did not makc out a violation of [the whistlcblower protcction rule], and therelbrc, this Orlice s investigation has been completed. Id.; Exhibit D. Thcreafter, on Juiic 23, 201 1 , Cacciuttolo coiiinicnced this spccial proceeding lor an order, pursuant to CPLR Article 78, dirccting the [PA] to comply with [the whistleblower protection rule] and to provide the petitioner with the appropriate remedial action based upon petitioner s allcgations. Noticc of Petition. The PA served a vcrified answer on September 7, 201 I D SCU S S1ON T The court s role in ai1 Article 78 proceeding is to dctermine, upon the facts beforc the administrative agency, whether the deteimination had a rational basis in the record or was arbitrary and capricious. Ser! A4ultt.r of Poll v U o m d of iSduc. (!{ UnionFree School Disc. N o 1 of thc Towns of ,l cursdule& Mcrmaroneck, Westche.vtc.r C ouniy, 34 NY2d 222, 23 1 (1 974); Milter qf15.G.A.Assoc. v New I ork ,S tule Div. OJHOZLY, R C onarrziiniiy Renewal, 232 AD2d 302 (1 Dept 19 16). Further, &[t]he interpretations of rcspondent agency of statutes which it adrninistcrs are entitled to deference if not unrcasonablc or irrational. Muller- of A4eti.cjplifcrn Assoc. /,td 3 [* 5] Dept 1994), citing Matter ofL%rlvuliv Eimicke, 72 NY2d 784, 79 1 (1 988). After a review of the within record, the court rules in favor of the PA. Tlic PA s whistleblower pmtcction rule is ai1 executive order, issued by the agcncy s director and desigiiatcd as PANYNJ A 1 20-1.18, that providcs, in pertinent part, as Iollows: No oftker or employee oi tlic Port Authority shall take an adverse personnel action with respect to another officer or employee solely as a result of, or in retalialioii for, his or her: (i) making a truthful report 01information concerning conduct which he or she knows or reasonably believes to involve .,. gross mismanagement ... or abuse of authority by another Port Authority ofiicer employee .._. S ec Petition, Exhibit H . l he whistleblowor protection rule also rcquires the 01G acknowledge complaints in writing, conduct ;in investigation, hold a hearing, and issue a written determination as to whether an adverse personnel action was taken. Id. The OIG s February 22, 20 1 1 letter decision appcars to comply with all of thcsc requirements. Neveithclcss, in his memorandum of law, Cacciuttolo raises thc conclusory argiiiiieiit that I f]or the inspector gciicral to dismiss thc fictualjustitication for the whistleblower cliarge is certainly arbitrary, capricious, and coitnter to the facts produced by the petitioner. See Mcniorandum of Law in Suppofl of Motion, at 4. However, nowhere docs Cacciuttolo explain tl iictual or legal basis for such conclusion. In opposition, thc PA responds that the administrative record supports the OIG s findings, since it clearly discloses that thc last round of disciplinary charges were prepared and signed hefi)rc Cacciuttolo even made his complaint about the asbestos disposal. ,See Memorandum of l,aw in Opposition lo Motion, at 12. I licPA has prcscnted documentary evidencc to support this allegation. See Banks Aflirmalion in Opposition to Pctition, l+;xhibit 2 1. Cacciuttolo s rcply papcrs contain no additional lcgal argument. Because the disciplinary charges were coinmenced 4 [* 6] M o r e Chcciuttolo made his complaint about the asbestos rcmoval, there are no grounds for finding that those charges were rctaliatoly, as required for a claim under the PA s whistleblower protectjon rule. Therefore, Cacciuttolo failed to demonstrate that the OIG s decision to dismiss his whistleblower complaint was arbitrary or capricious. Accordingly, the court tinds that Cacciuttolo s petition is denied. DLCISION ACCORDINGLY, for the foregoing reasons it is hereby OKDERED and ADJUDGED that lhe pctition of for relief, pursuant lo CP1,R Articlc 78, oLpctitioner Louis Chcciultolo is dcnied and this petition is dismissed; and it is further ORDERED that within 30 days of entry of this order, respondent shall serve a copy upon March 30 ,2012 Hen. Doris Ling-Cohan, JSC 5

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