The Second Department determined Supreme Court should not have dismissed the teacher’s Article 78 petition seeking review of the NYC Department of Education’s (DOE’s) job performance rating. The court explained the review criteria in the context of a motion to dismiss the petition for failure to state a cause of action:
“On a motion to dismiss a pleading pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7), all of the allegations in the petition are deemed true and the petitioner is afforded the benefit of every favorable inference” … . In determining such a motion, the sole criterion is whether the petition sets forth allegations [*2]sufficient to make out a claim that the determination sought to be reviewed was ” made in violation of lawful procedure, was affected by an error of law or was arbitrary and capricious or an abuse of discretion” … . When evidentiary material outside the pleading’s four corners is considered, and the motion is not converted into one for summary judgment, the question becomes whether the pleader has a cause of action, not whether the pleader has stated one and, unless it has been shown that a material fact as claimed by the pleader is not a fact at all, and unless it can be said that no significant dispute exists regarding it, dismissal should not eventuate … .
Applying this standard, the petition and the documents annexed to it establish a cognizable claim that the respondents’ determination was made in violation of lawful procedure, or was arbitrary and capricious or an abuse of discretion. Contrary to the respondents’ contention, the petitioner’s claim is not a mere disagreement as to whether the rating of “unsatisfactory” was deserved. Rather, as set forth in the petition, the petitioner alleges that the process used by the respondents in arriving at the rating was based on a failure to observe her entire class lesson, faulty background knowledge, and unlawful procedure. Matter of Kunik v New York City Dept. of Educ., 2016 NY Slip Op 05812, 2nd Dept 8-17-16
EDUCATION-SCHOOL LAW (TEACHER’S PETITION TO REVIEW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S JOB PERFORMANCE RATING SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CAUSE OF ACTION, CRITERIA EXPLAINED)/CIVIL PROCEDURE (TEACHER’S PETITION TO REVIEW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S JOB PERFORMANCE RATING SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CAUSE OF ACTION, CRITERIA EXPLAINED)/TEACHERS (TEACHER’S PETITION TO REVIEW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S JOB PERFORMANCE RATING SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CAUSE OF ACTION, CRITERIA EXPLAINED)