2019-162
2019-162
Resolution Adopting Hearing Officer’s Findings And Recommendation Of Penalty In Civil Service Law §
75 Disciplinary Proceeding
At a Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York, held
at Town Hall, 20 Middlebush Road, Wappingers Falls, New York, on August 5, 2019.
The meeting was called to order by Richard Thurston, Town Supervisor, and upon roll being called, the
following was recorded:
Vote Record - Resolution RES-2019-162
Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent
Adopted
Richard Thurston Voter
Adopted as Amended
William H. Beale Voter
Defeated
Angela Bettina Voter
Tabled
Christopher Phillips Seconder
Withdrawn
Michael Kuzmicz Mover
The following Resolution was introduced by Councilman Kuzmicz and seconded by Councilman
Phillips.
WHEREAS, at its November 7, 2018, Special Meeting, the Town Board approved the filing of written charges and
specifications against a certain employee in a proceeding pursuant to Civil Service Law §75 for removal or other
discipline; and
WHEREAS, at its November 26, 2018 regular meeting, the Town Board designated Frederick D. Romig, Esq. as a
Hearing Officer to conduct the proceedings pursuant to Civil Service Law §75 and directed him to issue a report of
his findings to the Town Board and to make a recommendation as to the penalty that should be imposed; and
WHEREAS, the Hearing Officer conducted a hearing on June 5, 2019 regarding the disciplinary charges and issued
his report of Findings and Recommendations dated July 30, 2019; and
WHEREAS, the Hearing Officer found that the employee was guilty of all five of the charges that were preferred
and recommended that the employee be dismissed from service for each and every count upon which the Employee
has been found guilty; and
WHEREAS, the Town Board has reviewed the Charges, the Findings and Recommendations of the Hearing
Officer, and the Transcript of the hearing, the exhibits submitted on behalf of the Town and the employee;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:
1. The Town Board has reviewed the Record of the proceeding and hereby makes the following findings of
Fact:
a. The Transcript and Hearing Officer’s Findings and Recommendation (HO Findings) establish that
after ample due notice by Employee’s attorney, Employee did not appear at the hearing on the
scheduled date (June 5, 2019) and did not warn her attorney that she did not intend to appear.
Therefore, none of the evidence presented by the Town was contradicted on the merits by the
Employee except the Jiava testimony. The hearing officer was therefore not required to weigh
contradictory evidence as normally would be the case if the Employee had appeared and testified in
her own defense.
b. None of the members of the Town Board participated in the investigation of the Employee’s
conduct except to authorize the town supervisor to prefer charges against the Employee. No
members attended the hearing or testified at the hearing.
c. The testimony of Receiver of Taxes Lee Anne Freno, including Exhibit 2 (the Freno complaint) is
credited by the Town Board. Employee’s duties were to collect water and sewer payments at the
window in town hall shared with the Receiver of Taxes, Lee Anne Freno. Occasionally, Employee
would take a payment for Freno if Freno were on a break or otherwise busy. Collections are
normally conducted at the receiving window in town hall or by mail according to notices that go to
taxpayers, and on the date in question Employee reported to Freno that she had received a school
tax payment and placed it in the receiving box, but the circumstances were inconsistent as described
by the Employee, and upon further discussions described in Exh. 2 the Employee’s story changed
and she admitted having lied to Freno and other town officials that she received a payment at the
post office from Laurie Jiava and upon returning to the town offices she secreted the payment in a
pile of tax receipts that were not found by Freno because of their misfiling. Freno explained that it
is against her policy and official tax collection practices for unauthorized persons to possess tax
payments off premises and to not immediately record such payments so the payments are not
delayed. The Employee was not authorized to possess tax payments off premises. Freno testified
that the mishandling of this particular payment was in conflict with the practices required by Freno,
which undermined Freno’s compliance with the handling requirements imposed on her department.
The taxpayer who asked the Employee at the post office to bring the tax payment to town hall
testified that when she was town supervisor it was not unusual for tax payments to be brought to
town hall by town employees. The Town Board credits Freno’s testimony that such liberties are not
permitted and conflict with policies and procedures of the Receiver of Taxes and notes that the
Employee’s defense did not tender any evidence other than the Jiava unsubstantiated testimony that
it had been a common practice in the past.
d. The Town Board also credits the testimony of Regina Dauzat and Exhibits 3-7 that are time records
of the Town for Employee, showing notations concerning the amount of leave she took and
whether she gave required notice to her supervisor. Exh. 3 is the Warning Report dated
10/31/2018 showing multiple occurrences of taking excessive leave time to the extent of exceeding
her accumulated leave availability, lateness and failure to give notice to her supervisor. Exh. 4 is a
spreadsheet prepared by Dauzat based on Exhibits 4-7 showing as of 3/14/2019 Employee had
39.25 Personal Time hours used and she had run out of personal time and had a negative balance,
Employee had 44.5 hours of Sick Time used and 35 hours used of Vacation Time, and in all
categories she had 20 instances of not getting her leave time approved by her supervisor, as required
by the Teamster Contract (Exh. 9) and Personnel Manual (Exh 8). The time frame covered by Exh.
3 is Jan 10, 2018 to her suspension on 11/8/2018. Rate of accrual of leave is stipulated in Exh. 9,
the Teamster Contract;
e. Termination is an appropriate penalty in view of the Employee’s deceptive activity, to wit,
deliberately misfiling the tax payment so it would not be noticed by Freno, misrepresenting the
circumstances of the mishandled tax payment with three very different accounts to town officials,
and persistent misuse of leave time during her tenure with the Town in violation of the Teamster
contract and the Town Personnel Manual.
2. Based on the Record, the Findings stated above, and the Findings and Recommendations of the Hearing
Officer, and having duly deliberated, the Town Board makes the following determinations:
a. Charge # 1- Misconduct for accepting a tax payment outside of the town hall without authorization
to do so. Guilty
b. Charge # 2- Misconduct for failing to notify Receiver of Taxes payment received outside of Town
Hall. Guilty
c. Charge #3- Misconduct for deceptively placing tax payment in stack of payments to be processed.
Guilty
d. Charge #4- Misconduct for lying about facts of receiving tax payment. Guilty
e. Charge #5- Misconduct for excessive time out of work. Guilty.
3. That the Town Board hereby agrees with the recommendation of the Hearing Officer that the Employee is
guilty of Charges 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 that are preferred against her and upon such finding of guilt, the penalty of
termination for each and every one of the charges should be imposed upon the Employee; and
4. The Town Board hereby imposes the penalty of termination from service as the penalty for each of the
charges and that effective August 5, 2019, the Employee’s service as a Town employee is hereby terminated
and any suspension without pay is part of the penalty pursuant to Civil Service Law §75;
5. The Town Clerk is directed to mail a copy of this resolution to the Employee and her attorney.
The Town Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this resolution, the Charges, the Findings and Recommendations
of the Hearing Officer, and the Transcript of the hearing, the exhibits submitted on behalf of the Town and the
employee to the Dutchess County Department of Human Resources.
The foregoing was put to a vote which resulted as follows:
RESULT: ADOPTED \[UNANIMOUS\]
MOVER: Michael Kuzmicz, Councilman
SECONDER: Christopher Phillips, Councilman
AYES: Richard Thurston, William H. Beale, Christopher Phillips, Michael Kuzmicz
ABSENT: Angela Bettina
Dated: Wappingers Falls, New York
8/5/2019
The Resolution is hereby duly declared Adopted.
___________________________________________
JOSEPH P. PAOLONI, TOWN CLERK