DocketNumber: C.A. No. PC 10-4247
Judges: DARIGAN, J.
Filed Date: 8/2/2011
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016
Upon learning of these allegations, Donald Zimmerman ("Zimmerman"), the Senior Executive Director of Human Resources of the Providence School District ("School District"), began to investigate the claims. Appellant admitted to Zimmerman that he had been in Tucson, Arizona for the youth football championship tournament, and thus, had misrepresented that he was sick. Appellant also admitted to Zimmerman that he did not leave any lesson plans or written materials for the substitute teacher; he left only a grade book.
Zimmerman also investigated the allegations that Appellant was accessing inappropriate or pornographic material on the school computer. During his investigation, the Chief Technology Officer for the School District found pornographic or inappropriate material within the temporary internet folder of the P.Perrino password protected school computer account belonging to Appellant. This material was accessed between the periods of October 27, 2005 through December 2, 2005. The School District then hired Thomas Galligan ("Galligan") of Electronic Evidence Recovery, to perform forensic analysis on the computer. Galligan identified twelve dates on which the inappropriate material was accessed. Appellant's expert witness, Dr. Fay-Wolf, agreed with these dates.1
Subsequently, on December 19, 2005, the School Board voted to terminate Appellant's employment as a teacher. It explained that it premised this action on the following: Perrino's misrepresentation that he was sick in December when he attended the youth football game in Arizona; his failure to leave a lesson plan for the substitute teacher; and his use of a school computer to access pornographic and obscene materials. *Page 3
The School Board then held an evidentiary hearing on August 28, 2006. During this hearing, the School Board permitted Appellant to cross examine the School Board's witnesses, present his own witnesses and present evidence in his defense. The School Board voted to sustain Appellant's termination.
Following this decision, Appellant filed a written appeal with the Commissioner of Education on September 8, 2006. (Board of Regents Ex. 2, Decision of the Commissioner of Education, Dec. 1, 2008 "Commissioner Decision" at 2.) After several days of de novo hearings, the Commissioner issued his decision on December 1, 2008. In his decision, the Commissioner found that the School Board had proven each factual allegation against Appellant by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. at 9. Specifically, the Commissioner found that undisputed evidence existed that Appellant was not entitled to sick leave under his contract to attend the youth football tournament in Arizona.Id. He concluded that the record clearly establishes that Appellant failed to leave lesson plans during his absence as required in his contract. Id. Concerning that issue, the Commissioner explained that any existence of a generic lesson plan is insufficient proof of the existence of an actual lesson plan left by Appellant, especially considering the failure to produce the document at the hearing and Appellant's lack of testimony about the plan. Id.
Furthermore, the Commissioner found that it is undisputed that the computer in the health room was used to access inappropriate material on approximately twelve dates between November 27 and November 30, 2005. Id. The Commissioner noted that all of these incidences occurred while the P.Perrino password protected account was logged into the computer. He found that the preponderance of the evidence does not lead to a *Page 4 conclusion that another person accessed the material while logged onto Appellant's account. Id. In support of his conclusion, the Commissioner identified the numerous contradictions and inconsistencies within Appellant's testimony. Thus, he found that Appellant's denial that he accessed the material was insufficient to rebut the substantial evidence that he was the user who accessed pornographic websites. Id. The Commissioner, therefore, concluded that Appellant violated the Internet Acceptable Use Policy by intentionally accessing pornographic websites.Id.
Despite this conclusion, the Commissioner rejected the School Board's finding that Appellant also violated his statutory duty to inculcate principles of morality and virtue in students under his charge because, he found, no evidence exists that students were involved in or observed Appellant accessing this material. The Commissioner thus concluded that as a result of the three violations and their substantial nature, the School Board substantiated good and just cause for termination, notwithstanding Appellant's lack of prior disciplinary history. Id. at 11-12.
Perrino appealed the Commissioner's decision to the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. In its decision, the Board of Regents found that the facts set forth within the Hearing Officer's decision are controlling because they are supported by the record. (Board of Regents Ex. 1, Decision of the Board of Regents, July 1, 2010, at 1.) The Board of Regents explained that the Commissioner's decision should not be disturbed by the Board of Regents because it is not "patently arbitrary, capricious, or unfair." Id. Accordingly, it sustained the Commissioner's decision on July 1, 2010.
Perrino appealed the Board of Regent's decision to this Court on July 20, 2010. Therein, Appellant maintains that sufficient good and just cause does not exist to support *Page 5 his termination. Additionally, Appellant avers that termination was not an appropriate sanction in light of the circumstances. Perrino further argues that his termination is not effective until the 2006-2007 academic year because his termination was prior to the statutorily mandated March 1 deadline.
In response, the School Board contends that the Board of Regent's decision is not arbitrary and capricious because the School Board proved the violations by a preponderance of the evidence. The School Board also maintains that termination was indeed the appropriate sanction given the substantial violations. Finally, it opines that his termination date is not in violation of the March 1 deadline under a reasonable interpretation of the Teacher's Tenure Act.
*Page 6"The court shall not substitute its judgment for that of the agency as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact. The court may affirm the decision of the agency or remand the case for further proceedings, or it may reverse or modify the decision if substantial rights of the appellant have been prejudiced because the administrative findings, inferences, conclusions, or decisions are:
(1) In violation of constitutional or statutory provisions;
(2) In excess of the statutory authority of the agency;
(3) Made upon unlawful procedure;
(4) Affected by other error or law;
(5) Clearly erroneous in view of the reliable, probative, and substantial evidence on the whole record; or
(6) Arbitrary or capricious or characterized by abuse of discretion or clearly unwarranted exercise of discretion."
In reviewing an agency decision, this Court is limited to an examination of the certified record in deciding whether the agency's decision is supported by legally competent evidence.Nickerson v. Reitsma,
The Superior Court's power to order a remand under §
The Board of Regents uses a two-tier system of review, in which the Commissioner of Education holds a hearing to evaluate a claim and the Board of Regents reviews his decision. This two-tier system is similar to a funnel. Environmental ScientificCorp. v. Durfee,
Section
In the instant matter, the Commissioner recognized that it was possible that Appellant had left his computer logged on during the day and another person or student *Page 9 accessed the inappropriate images under his account. (Commissioner Decision at 10.) Nevertheless, the Commissioner concluded that the preponderance of the evidence leads to the conclusion that Appellant was the user that accessed the websites.Id. Specifically, the Commissioner found Appellant's testimony to be contracted by his log-in time at his computer and personal email and the testimony of his co-workers. Id. The Commissioner further noted Appellant testified inconsistently when he stated that he did not use the computer for personal matters, because he also testified that he used the computer to check bids on Ebay. Id. As a result of these inconsistencies, the Commissioner gave little weight to Appellant's testimony that he never accessed the aforementioned pornographic images using his personal email account. Id. Addressing Appellant's argument that the access to these websites was a result of spam emails, the Commissioner also found that clicking a spam link in a personal email account amounts to intentionally accessing the website.Id. Thus, he found that this intentional access violated the technology agreement that Mr. Perrino had agreed to in writing and thus, brought students closer to pornography than they would otherwise have been. Id. at 11.
While intentionally accessing pornography on a school computer is arguably "good and just cause" for dismissal, the Commissioner further found that Appellant failed to leave a lesson plan as required under his contract. Concerning this issue, the Commissioner dismissed the other physical education teacher's "belated recollection" of a generic lesson plan, because it was neither produced at the hearing nor mentioned in Appellant's testimony.Id. at 9. Finally, the Commissioner found that the evidence is undisputed that Appellant was not entitled to sick leave under his teachers' contract when *Page 10 he went to Arizona in early December and that he misrepresented the reasons for his absence. Id. at 10.
When reviewing administrative appeals, courts will not substitute their judgment for that of the agency when evaluating credibility determinations. Costa v. Registrar of Motor Vehicles,
After considering the entire record, this Court finds probative, reliable, and substantial evidence on the whole record to support the findings made by the Commissioner and the Board of Regents.See Barber,
Generally, the labor principle of progressive discipline is "a tool to bring about change in the behavior of employees, reserving termination for those guilty of serious offenses and those who have run the gamut of progressive discipline and have shown themselves to be incorrigible." Gosline, Bornstein and Greenbaum, Labor andEmployment Arbitration 14.03[3] (2001). In applying progressive discipline, Rhode Island courts must ensure that punishment for the offense "is proportionate to the offense committed." Martone v.State of Rhode Island,
In reviewing an administrative agency's choice of sanction, courts will afford the agency considerable deference to its chosen sanction as a result of the agency's special competence. Am. Jur. 2d Admin. Law § 453; see Broad St. Food Mkt.,Inc. v. United States,
In this matter, the Commissioner determined that the "substantial nature of the violations of the Internet Acceptable Use Policy that occurred from October 27 to November 30, 2005, his misrepresentation with respect to sick leave, and Mr. Perrino's failure to leave lesson plans for a four day period" constituted good and just cause for termination, despite no prior disciplinary history. Notwithstanding a lack of prior discipline, Appellant's violations in this matter may be considered "so unacceptable to preclude more than one violation." See Gosline, Labor andEmployment Arbitration 14.03[3]. Therefore, this Court concludes that the Board of Regents exercised allowable discretion in its choice of remedy as termination.
Pursuant to §
In an administrative appeal, a reviewing court will defer to an agency's interpretation of an ambiguous statute when it has been charged with the statue's administration and enforcement.Arnold v. Rhode Island Dep't of Labor and Training Bd. ofReview,
Rhode Island courts have the broad power to remand "`to correct deficiencies in the record and thus afford the litigants a meaningful review.'" Champlin's Realty Assocs. v. Tikoian,
*Page 1
Broad Street Food Market, Inc. v. United States , 720 F.2d 217 ( 1983 )
Environmental Scientific Corp. v. Durfee , 621 A.2d 200 ( 1993 )
Interstate Navigation Co. v. Division of Public Utilities & ... , 824 A.2d 1282 ( 2003 )
Costa v. Registrar of Motor Vehicles , 543 A.2d 1307 ( 1988 )
Lemoine v. DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH, R. & HOSP. , 320 A.2d 611 ( 1974 )
Sartor v. Coastal Resources Management Council , 542 A.2d 1077 ( 1988 )
GREAT LAKES DREDGE & DOCK COMPANY v. Norberg , 369 A.2d 1101 ( 1977 )
Guarino v. Department of Social Welfare , 122 R.I. 583 ( 1980 )
RI Pub. Tel. Auth. v. RI Labor Rel. Bd. , 650 A.2d 479 ( 1994 )
Rocha v. State Public Utilities Commission , 694 A.2d 722 ( 1997 )
Arnold v. Rhode Island Department of Labor , 822 A.2d 164 ( 2003 )
Martone v. State of Rhode Island/Registry of Motor Vehicles , 611 A.2d 384 ( 1992 )
Royal v. Barry , 91 R.I. 24 ( 1960 )
Foster-Glocester Regional School Committee v. Board of ... , 854 A.2d 1008 ( 2004 )
Nickerson v. Reitsma , 853 A.2d 1202 ( 2004 )
Champlin's Realty Associates v. Tikoian , 989 A.2d 427 ( 2010 )
Barber v. Exeter-West Greenwich School Committee , 418 A.2d 13 ( 1980 )
Auto Body Ass'n of Rhode Island v. State, Department of ... , 996 A.2d 91 ( 2010 )