OATH Recent Decisions

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Personnel

ALJ Tiffany Hamilton recommended a 3-day suspension for a caseworker charged with engaging in discourteous and threatening conduct toward her supervisor. The ALJ found that the caseworker’s comments, “you’re a liar,” “you don’t know me” and “you will see,” to her supervisor during a work performance meeting, did not amount to a threat but they were demeaning and provocative, constituting discourteous conduct. Dep’t of Social Services (Dep’t of Homeless Services) v. McCain, OATH Index No. 1141/23 (Mar. 21, 2023).

Licensing

ALJ Jonathan Fogel recommended that a taxi driver’s TLC license remain suspended during the pendency of his criminal case. The driver was arrested for assault in the third degree following an altercation with the owners of a daycare center his nephew had previously attended. Video evidence of the altercation contradicted the driver’s testimony that he did not hit anyone in the face and acted in self-defense. The video also showed the driver slapping the owners’ hands and striking one of them with his car. Although the driver was not charged with any vehicular crimes, his use of his car as a weapon to strike a member of the public, after hitting a person in the head, was part of a continuing course of conduct that resulted in his arrest for assault and was a direct nexus to his duties as a TLC licensee. Taxi & Limousine Comm’n v. Lomidze, OATH Index No. 1994/23 (Mar. 3, 2023), adopted, Comm’r Dec. (Mar. 14, 2023).

ALJ Julia Davis recommended that a taxi driver’s TLC license remain suspended during the pendency of his criminal case following his arrest for forgery of a vehicle identification number (“VIN”) and related charges. The driver was found in possession of a stolen vehicle with an altered VIN and its license plate replaced with a TLC license plate. The ALJ found that the driver’s intended use of the car as a TLC licensee established a direct and substantial nexus between the alleged offense and the duties of a licensee. The charge of forgery of a VIN involves the driver’s honesty and is also connected to his duties as a licensee. The driver failed to offer any credible mitigating evidence. Taxi & Limousine Comm’n v. Cepeda, OATH Index No. 2089/23 (Mar. 2, 2023), adopted, Comm’r Dec. (Mar. 14, 2023).

Real Property

ALJ Noel R. Garcia recommended granting protected occupancy status to a tenant residing in a unit covered by the Loft Law. The ALJ rejected the owner’s argument that the unit was deregulated by a valid sale of rights by prior tenants, finding that the prior tenants vacated the unit two years before the sale of rights was effectuated. Loft Board precedent clearly establishes that a sale of rights may only be made by a tenant who resides in the unit at the time of sale. Matter of Smulktis, OATH Index No. 327/21 (Mar. 10, 2023).