Opinion ID: 761701
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Liberty Claim

Text: 41 We can more easily dispose of DeMichele's second § 1983 claim. DeMichele asserts that Green's dissemination to the media of the results of his second disciplinary hearing stigmatized him and thereby wrongfully deprived him of his liberty interest under the Fourteenth Amendment. Central to this claim is DeMichele's contention that the results of the disciplinary proceeding were not a matter of public record, but instead were part of his employment history which could not be released under New York's Freedom of Information Law, Public Officers Law, art. 6, (FOIL). See Hanig v. State Dep't of Motor Vehicles, 79 N.Y.2d 106, 109-10, 580 N.Y.S.2d 715, 588 N.E.2d 750 (1992) (citing exemption under Public Officers Law § 89(2)(b)(i) for disclosure of employment, medical or credit histories). 42 As noted by the district court, however, New York courts have found that the disposition of misconduct charges does not constitute part of an employee's employment history as that phrase is used in New York's FOIL. See, e.g., LaRocca v. Board of Educ. of Jericho Union Free Sch. Dist., 220 A.D.2d 424, 632 N.Y.S.2d 576, 578-79 (2d Dep't 1995) (holding that settlement agreement, which disposed of misconduct charges brought under § 3020-a, did not constitute an employment history for FOIL purposes). Thus, we agree with the district court that there is no basis for DeMichele's claim that the results of the proceeding were to remain private, and that Green's dissemination of that information deprived him of his liberty interest.