Case Name: In the Matter of John V. Currie, Petitioner, v. William G. Connelie, as Superintendent of the Division of New York State Police, et al., Respondents
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1982-01-21
Citations: 86 A.D.2d 716
Docket Number: 
Parties: In the Matter of John V. Currie, Petitioner, v William G. Connelie, as Superintendent of the Division of New York State Police, et al., Respondents.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 86
Pages: 716–717

Head Matter:
In the Matter of John V. Currie, Petitioner, v William G. Connelie, as Superintendent of the Division of New York State Police, et al., Respondents.

Opinion:
Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this court by order of the Supreme Court at Special Term, entered in Albany County) to review a determination of the respondent Superintendent of the Division of New York State Police, which sustained the recommendation of the hearing board finding petitioner guilty of making false entries in the records of the New York State Police. Petitioner, a New York State trooper assigned to a substation in Chestertown, New York, was scheduled to report for duty at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 12, 1980, until 7:00 a.m. on July 13, 1980. About two hours before his duty was to commence, petitioner telephoned the desk sergeant at the South Glens Falls station from the Colonial Arms Restaurant and Lounge in Warrensburg, where he had dined earlier, and reported that he was sick and unable to report for duty as scheduled because "his hemorrhoids were bothering him". Because of his call, the patrol scheduled for the Chestertown area had to be canceled. However, after making the call, petitioner remained at the Colonial Arms, drinking beer, sitting and standing at the bar, and dancing to both fast and slow music, until about 1:30 a.m. His activities were observed by his zone commander, a Lieutenant Brooks, who was off duty and in that restaurant for his own personal entertainment and enjoyment. Lieutenant Brooks conversed with petitioner during the evening but did not know that petitioner had reported himself too ill to work. On July 14, 1980, when petitioner returned to duty, he executed and filed a leave slip for the sick leave he had taken the previous day. Lieutenant Brooks returned to duty on July 15 and learned that the Warren County Sheriff's Department had to answer a complaint on the previous Saturday evening because no State Police patrol was on duty in the Chestertown area. Investigation revealed that the patrol had been canceled because petitioner had called in sick. On July 23, 1980, petitioner, accompanied by a PBA representative and his attorney, appeared before Lieutenant Brooks and was advised that he was being investigated for taking unauthorized sick leave and causing a false entry to be made in official records. The hearing board made a written recommendation sustaining the charge that petitioner had caused a false entry to be made in the official records of the New York State Police, in violation of section 8.53 of the regulations of that department, by falsely reporting himself sick. Implicit in that finding was a rejection of petitioner's claim that his hemorrhoids were indeed bothering him — a claim that the board found was contradicted by his activities at the Colonial Arms as testified to by Lieutenant Brooks. The hearing board recommended, and the superintendent agreed, that petitioner be suspended for 10 days without pay, with five days of the suspension remitted; and that he be placed on probation for six months, the condition of probation being that he not violate the rules and regulations applicable to sick leave. This determination is amply supported by substantial evidence, as set forth above, and should be confirmed. Despite the absence of medical evidence, petitioner's observed activities at the Colonial Arms belie his claim that he was indeed suffering from his hemorrhoidal condition and was too ill to report for duty. Determination confirmed, and petition dismissed, without costs. Mahoney, P. J., Sweeney, Kane, Main and Casey, JJ., concur.