IN RE: BRIAN D. GAFFNEY (2015)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Fourth Judicial Department by order of the Supreme Court, Jefferson County [James P. McClusky, J.], entered January 29, 2015) to annul a determination of respondent.   The determination terminated the employment of petitioner.

It is hereby ORDERED that the determination is unanimously confirmed without costs and the petition is dismissed.

Finally, we conclude that the penalty of termination is not “ ‘so disproportionate to the offense as to be shocking to one's sense of fairness' “ and thus does not constitute an abuse of discretion as a matter of law (Matter of Kelly v. Safir, 96 N.Y.2d 32, 38, rearg. denied 96 N.Y.2d 854;  see Matter of Short v Nassau County Civ. Serv. Commn., 45 N.Y.2d 721, 722–723), particularly in light of petitioner's statement that he would take the same action again if he were placed in the same situation (see Matter of Winters v Board of Educ. of Lakeland Cent. Sch. Dist., 99 N.Y.2d 549, 550).

Frances E. Cafarell

Clerk of the Court