Opinion
June 23, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Stanley Parness, J.).
We agree with the IAS Court that petitioner failed to establish that the real reason he was demoted was in retaliation for his union activities and his filing of a discrimination complaint. Respondents presented evidence, credited after a CPLR 7804 (h) hearing, that petitioner questioned respondents' policy concerning hospital visits to wounded correction officers and reacted with aggressive defiance to a superiors attempt to "correct" his reluctance, failed to follow the protocol of saluting a superior officer on at least two occasions and was evaluated by respondents' psychologist as having a questionable ability to follow authority.
However, we find petitioner's demotion from a relatively high managerial position to a nonmanagerial position is so disproportionate to his conduct as to shock ones sense of fairness.
Concur — Milonas, J. P., Wallach, Rubin, Mazzarelli and Saxe, JJ.