Moore v Board of Educ. of the City Sch. Dist. of the City of N.Y.
2024 NY Slip Op 33080(U)
September 3, 2024
Supreme Court, New York County

Docket Number: Index No. 160087/2020
Judge: Debra A. James
Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip

Op 30001 (U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New

York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service.
This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication.160087/2020 MOORE, JOMANI vs. CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE

Motion No. 001 Page 1 of 4 The following e

- filed documents, l isted by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 4, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39

were read on this motion to/for ARTICLE 78 (BODY OR OFFICER)

.
Upon the foregoing documents, it is

ORDERED that the Order d a t e d April 25, 2024, resolving motion

sequence number 001 in this p r o c e e d i n g , is VACATED, RESETTLED, AND

CORRECTED, nunc pro tunc , pursuant to CPLR § 5019(a) [see Kiker v

Nassau County , 85 NY2d 879 (1995)] as follows:

ORDER

Upon the foregoing documents, it is

ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the petition of JOMANI MOORE,

pursuant to CPLR Article 78, is GRANTED in part, to the extent

that the petitioner is awarded 23 days salary, and it is further



### SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

NEW YORK COUNTY

PRESENT: HON. DEBRA A. JAMES PART 59

Justice

----------------------------------------------------------------- -- -------------- X INDEX NO. 160087/2020

MOTION DATE 1 0 /2 5 /202 3

MOTION SEQ. NO. 001

ORDER

– R E S E T T L E D

/ AMENDED (MOTION RELATED) JOMANI MOORE,

Petitioner,

F o r a J u d g m e n t p u r s u a n t t o Article 7 8 o f t h e C i v i l P r a c t i c e L a w s a n d R u l e s
,

- v

-

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, a n d RICHARD A. CARRANZA

, i n h i s o f f i c i a l c a p a c i t y a s C h a n c e l l o r o f t h e C i t y S c h o o l D i s t r i c t o f t h e C i t y o f N e w Y o r k

,

Respondent s

.

------------------------------------------------------------------- -- ------------ X INDEX NO. 160087/2020

NYSCEF DOC. NO. 40 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/03/2024

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### [* 1]160087/2020 MOORE, JOMANI vs. CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE

Motion No. 001 Page 2 of 4 ORDERED that matter is remanded to respondents for the

calculation of an award of 23 days’ salary ; a n d i t i s f u r t h e r

O R D E R E D t o t h e e x t e n t t h a t p e t i t i o n e r s e e k s a t t o r n e y s ’ f e e s

a n d i n t e r e s t , s u c h a p p l i c a t i o n i s d e n i e d a n d dismisse d ( s e e B e l l o

v R o s w e l l P a r k C a n c e r I n s t i t u t e , 5 N Y 3 d 1 7 0 [ 2 0 0 5 ] ) ; a n d i t i s

f u r t h e r

O R D E R E D t h a t t h i s m a t t e r i s r e m a n d e d t o r e s p o n d e n t s f o r t h e

calculation o f a n a w a r d o f 2 3 d a y s ’ s a l a r y t o p e t i t i o n e r , w h i c h

r e s p o n d e n t s s h a l l p a y p e t i t i o n e r , f o r t h w i t h

.

7 DECISION

Petitioner Jomani Moore (“Moore”), a probationary teacher,

commenced this proceeding against the respondents Board of

Education of the City School District of the City of New York, and

Richard A. Carranza, in his official capacity as Chancellor of the

City School District of the City of New York (collectively, the

“Board”) seeking an award of salary for 30 days due to the Board’s

violation of the 30

- day requirement set forth in Education Law §

3019.

“Education Law § 3019

– a requires school authorities to gi ve

probationary teachers written notice of termination at least 30

days before the effective date of termination.” Matter of Vetter

v Bd. of Educ. , 14 NY3d 729, 731 (2010).

On June 22, 2020, the Board, by its District 75

Superintendent, notified petitione r that INDEX NO. 160087/2020

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### [* 2]160087/2020 MOORE, JOMANI vs. CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE

Motion No. 001 Page 3 of 4

“This is to inform you that on June 22, 2020, I will review and consider whether your services as a probationer be discontinued as of the close of business July 22, 2020.

* * * [Y]ou may submit a written response to the reasons no

later than seven (7) days prior to the date of my consideration and final determination of your
Discontinuance.”

Then, by letter dated July 15, 2020, the Board, by its

District 75 Superintendent, wrote petitioner that:

“This is to inform you that after reviewing writte n response received on July 15, 2020. (sic) I reaffirm your Discontinuance of Probationary service effective close of business July 22, 2020.” (NYSCEF Document Number 003).

The employment and payment records submitted by the Board

establish that Moore r emained on the Board’s payroll until

September 1, 2020 (NYSCEF Document Numbers 014

- 016). This court

finds that the letter dated June 20, 2022 was equivocal whether

Moore’s probationary teaching services would be discontinued

effective July 22, 2020, whic h renders such letter ineffective

to give petitioner the requisite thirty days

- notice. Such

equivocation is compounded by the Board’s providing that

petitioner “may submit a written response to the reasons no

later than seven days before the date of my co nsideration and

final determination of your Discontinuance” unless the

Superintendent’s consideration of same was illusory.

The letter dated July 15, 2020 letter provided Moore only 7

days ’ notice of his termination, 23 days short of the 30

- day INDEX NO. 160087/2020

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### [* 3]160087/2020 MOORE, JOMANI vs. CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE

Motion No. 001 Page 4 of 4 requirem ent set forth in Education Law § 3019. See Matter of

Vetter , 14 NY3d at 731 (2010).

The Board argues that even if it was deficient i n providing

notice of the discontinuance, Moore suffered no lost compensation,

as the Board paid him an additional 48 days of salary, as h e

remained on the Board’s payroll until September 1, 2020. However,

the Board concedes that the salary Moore received between July 22,

2020 and September 1, 2020 constituted deferred compensation that

was earned during the school year, to whi ch Moore was already

entitled. (NYSCEF Documents 17, ¶ 7; 24 ¶ 7; and 25, p. 11, L2,

L5). Nor is the Board’s argument about summer vacation of any

moment. See Matter of Vetter
, supra , at p. 731.

Based on the foregoing, Moore is entitled to an award of 2 3

days salary pursuant to Education Law § 3019.

9/3/2024
DATE DEBRA A. JAMES, J.S.C.

CHECK ONE: X CASE DISPOSED NON

- FINAL DISPOSITION

X GRANTED DENIED GRANTED IN PART OTHER

APPLICATION: SETTLE ORDER SUBMIT ORDER

CHECK IF APPROPRIATE: INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT REFERENCE INDEX NO. 160087/2020

NYSCEF DOC. NO. 40 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/03/2024

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