Wait For The Attorney

The New York Court of Appeals has remanded a school discipline matter for a fresh hearing

Petitioner, a student enrolled at respondent Purchase College of the State University of New York, was accused of multiple disciplinary violations including sexual assault of another student. Petitioner requested a three-hour adjournment of his scheduled administrative hearing so that his attorney could attend the proceeding. Respondents denied this request. Under the particular circumstances of this case, we find respondents abused their discretion as a matter of law by failing to grant the requested adjournment (see Matter of Abdur-Raheem v Mann, 85 NY2d 113, 124 [1995]). Petitioner’s remaining arguments need not be reached and any other contentions raised below have been abandoned.

The decision of the Second Department is linked here.

although the petitioner was informed on September 30, 2014, that the hearing would likely be scheduled for October 6 or 7, and although he was informed on October 2, 2014, of the exact time of the hearing, he alleges that he did not request an adjournment until “on or about” October 5, 2014, which was two days before the date of the hearing. Any delay in the petitioner’s attorney discussing the scheduling of the hearing with the Purchase administration was attributable to the petitioner’s delay in executing a FERPA release form as instructed. The hearing involved the participation of three faculty or staff members serving as the administrative board, eight testifying witnesses including the petitioner and the complainant, and a support person for the complainant. Jones had previously mentioned in an email to the petitioner the difficulty that she was having finding a time when all of these people could participate. Given the difficulty in scheduling and the timing of the request for an adjournment, the denial of the request was not arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion.

There was a dissent 

The respondent Purchase College of the State University of New York (hereinafter Purchase) violated the petitioner’s right to due process and abused its discretion when it denied his timely request for a three-hour adjournment of the administrative hearing so that his attorney could attend. Given the gravity of the administrative charges facing the petitioner, and the threat of additional criminal charges stemming from an active police investigation, the petitioner’s right to secure the assistance of his designated attorney at the administrative hearing was fundamental. This right was wrongfully extinguished by Purchase when it summarily refused to accommodate the petitioner’s request for this exceedingly minimal delay.

This case should not be analyzed as if it involved a routine application for an adjournment in a proceeding before the Department of Motor Vehicles. Aside from the punishment of expulsion, which effectively ended the petitioner’s pursuit of higher education, the petitioner faced the prospect of serious criminal charges that could have resulted in a significant prison sentence. In light of the potential impact of the administrative hearing, the failure to grant a three-hour adjournment was no ordinary administrative determination with consequences confined to the administrative realm, but a decision which deprived the petitioner of his right to due process. Every participant in an administrative proceeding is entitled to be treated fairly and in accordance with due process, regardless of the nature of the charges lodged against them. Accordingly, we must respectfully dissent.

(Mike Frisch)