IN RE: Sherry Ann JACKSON (2021)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Alexander M. Tisch, J.), entered May 21, 2019, granting respondents’ cross motion to dismiss the petition to vacate a November 24, 2017 arbitration award, which sustained charges of incompetence and misconduct and terminated petitioner's employment as a public school teacher, and dismissing this proceeding brought pursuant to CPLR article 75, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

The “determination sustaining charges of incompetency is amply supported by the evidence” (Matter of Johnson v. Board of Educ. of the City Sch. Dist. of the City of N.Y., 171 A.D.3d 548, 548, 98 N.Y.S.3d 573 [1st Dept. 2019]).  The evidence also showed that petitioner was “unwilling ․ to implement suggestions and constructive criticism of her ineffective teaching methods” (Matter of Benjamin v. New York City Bd./Dept. of Educ., 105 A.D.3d 677, 678, 964 N.Y.S.2d 139 [1st Dept. 2013]).  Similarly, the portion of the award sustaining various charges of misconduct was in accord with due process, rationally based and supported by adequate evidence (see Lackow v. Department of Educ. [or “Board”] of City of N.Y., 51 A.D.3d 563, 567, 859 N.Y.S.2d 52 [1st Dept. 2008]).  Each specification provided ample notice of the charges (compare Mayo v. Personnel Review Board of Health & Hosps. Corp., 65 A.D.3d 470, 472–473, 884 N.Y.S.2d 39 [1st Dept. 2009]), and was sufficient to support the findings of guilt (Lackow at 567, 859 N.Y.S.2d 52).

Notwithstanding petitioner's previously unblemished record, given, inter alia, her identified pedagogical shortcomings, lack of improvement, and student safety issues inherent in two of the sustained misconduct charges, the penalty of termination does not shock one's sense of fairness (see e.g. Matter of Johnson, 171 A.D.3d at 548–549, 98 N.Y.S.3d 573;  Matter of Ferraro v. Farina, 156 A.D.3d 549, 550, 69 N.Y.S.3d 266 [1st Dept. 2017], lv denied 32 N.Y.3d 902, 2018 WL 4233495 [2018];  Matter of Broad v. New York City Bd./Dept. of Educ., 150 A.D.3d 438, 53 N.Y.S.3d 295 [1st Dept. 2017]).

We have considered petitioner's remaining contentions and find them unavailing.