Petitioner’s Position Properly Abolished by Enactment of Town Budget
The Second Department determined that the town did not act in bad faith when it abolished petitioner’s position through the enactment of the town budget. The court explained the applicable law:
A public employer may abolish civil service positions to “promote efficiency and economy,” provided that the employer acts in good faith … . Where a public employer has abolished a position, an employee challenging that determination has the burden of proving that the employer engaged in a bad faith effort to circumvent the Civil Service Law … . “Bad faith may be demonstrated by evidence that a newly hired person performed substantially the same duties as the discharged employee” … . “[W]hen there exists a triable issue of fact with regard to bad faith, a full hearing must be held” … .
Here, contrary to the petitioner’s contention, adoption of a municipal budget may properly serve, under certain circumstances, to abolish an employee’s position … . Matter of Grant v Town of Lewisboro, 2015 NY Slip Op 05187, 2nd Dept 6-17-14
