Matter of Exum v. New York City Health & Hosps. Corp

In Matter of Exum v. New York City Health & Hosps. Corp., 37 Misc 3d 1218[A], 2012 NY Slip Op 52078[U] [Sup Ct, Kings County 2012] the petitioner was arrested for possessing a gravity knife in 1977, and marijuana in 2000. Both arrests resulted in the petitioner entering a plea of guilt to disorderly conduct, a lesser offense than the weapon and marijuana possession charges that the petitioner initially faced (id.). As such the petitioner did not allocute to the crimes for which he was arrested, but instead allocuted to the lesser offense of disorderly conduct (id.). Both offenses were later sealed (id.). The petitioner was subsequently arrested on possession of marijuana charges five additional times between 1998 and 2006, and each time had those charges dismissed and sealed (id.). Although the personnel review board insisted that the petitioner's "several criminal arrests and convictions . . . rendered him unfit for this position," the court held, in part, that it was factually incorrect for the review board to base its findings on guilty pleas that were different from the offenses that petitioner was initially charged with (id. at 4-5, 9). Doing so, the court noted, was punitive in nature, and failed to comport with public policy (id. at 9). The court went on to conclude that since the review board had failed to specify how petitioner's record related to his fitness and ability to perform the duties and responsibilities of a special officer, its decision was arbitrary and capricious as a matter of law (id.).