A tenured grade school guidance counselor was wrongly fired, perhaps because his school's principal disliked him, a Manhattan judge ruled Wednesday, ordering a new hearing to determine a lesser penalty.
Glen Fox, was fired from P.S. 150 in Brooklyn over charges that he did not keep adequate records or follow certain instructions. But Supreme Court Justice Alice Schlesinger ( See Profile) ruled in Fox v. Department of Education, 101263/13, that the penalty of termination was far too severe for Fox's alleged conduct.
She said the record of his case suggested that the principal was motivated by her own negative feelings toward Fox. She also said that the hearing officer who presided over the disciplinary case, Lana Flame, was not objective.
"Knowing that is a harsh judgment to make, one I reluctantly reach, I nevertheless find that it is compelled by the circumstances of both the multiple charges or specifications against Fox and the detailed decision by the Hearing Officer," Schlesinger wrote.