Opinion ID: 556612
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Treatment of Vasbinder Before His FBI Contact

Text: 4 Vasbinder had devoted his entire professional career of 20-odd years to improving employment opportunities for handicapped persons. After working for the Buffalo City School District for several years teaching handicapped high school students, he had been hired by OVR in 1969 as a vocational rehabilitation counselor. In this position, Vasbinder counseled the handicapped and helped to place them in productive employment. He was promoted twice over the next ten years. He first became a senior vocational rehabilitation counselor; then in November 1979, he received a provisional appointment as statewide coordinator of placement services (statewide coordinator). His appointment as statewide coordinator was made permanent on September 23, 1982. This permanent appointment was subject, under the New York Civil Service Law, to a flexible probationary period lasting at least 12, but not more than 52, weeks, see N.Y.Civ.Serv.Law, Rules and Regulations Sec. 4.5(a)(2) (McKinney 1983 & 1991 Supp.); Scott informed Vasbinder that his probation would last only the minimum 12-week period. 5 Until November 1982, Vasbinder was consistently given high ratings on his performance as statewide coordinator. While noting room for improvement in interpersonal relations, the evaluations by Scott and Switzer rated him highly effective and outstanding. In the evaluation covering the period October 1, 1981, to April 30, 1982, for example, Vasbinder's performance was rated as outstanding, a rating defined as follows: 6 The employee's performance is clearly exceptional in comparison with performance standards specified in the performance program. The performance consistently exceeds the requirements for all the tasks, assignments or activities and the objectives which were to be accomplished during the evaluation period. The employee can be relied upon to perform the most difficult assignments and has made exceptional contributions to the work of the unit. 7 During Vasbinder's tenure as provisional and permanent statewide coordinator, the number of OVR clients placed in employment increased significantly. Thus, the 1982-83 Annual Report of the Educational Department stated that in 1982, OVR placed 10,252 disabled persons in gainful employment, an increase of 12.5 percent over the previous year's total. These gains were made in the face of cutbacks in staffing and a nationwide trend of decreasing placements. The report also noted that [t]he three-year trend shows a steady improvement in successful placements. That three-year period had begun soon after Vasbinder's provisional appointment as statewide coordinator.