New York Court of Appeals, 1976

Anonymous v. Codd

New York Court of Appeals · Decided October 14, 1976

40 N.Y.2d 860; 356 N.E.2d 475; 387 N.Y.S.2d 1004; 1976 N.Y. LEXIS 3024

Cases that cite this one

23 later published cases cite this decision.

Bergamini v. Manhattan & Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1983)
MATTER OF MINGO v. Pirnie (N.Y. 1982)
Matter of Lake v. Town of Southold (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2020)
Matter of Messenger v. State of New York Dept. of Corr. & Community Supervision (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2017)
Anonymous v. Commissioner of Health (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2005)
Taylor v. State University (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2004)
MATTER OF SWINTON v. Safir (N.Y. 1999)
Z & H Realty, Inc. v. Office of the State Comptroller (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1999)
Gordon v. Town of Queensbury (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1998)
Beacham v. Brown (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1995)
Medina v. Sielaff (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1992)
Connor v. Board of Education of the Bayport-Blue Point Free School District (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1992)
DiFiglia v. Ward (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1990)
Rainey v. McGuire (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1985)
MATTER OF BERGAMINI v. Manhattan & Bronx Surface Transit Operating Auth. (N.Y. 1984)
York v. McGuire (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1984)
Ranus v. Blum (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1983)
Christman v. Introne (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1983)
Briggins v. McGuire (New York Supreme Court 1983)
Salvatore v. Nasser (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1981)
Mingo v. Pirnie (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1980)
Matter of Beneky v. Waterfront Comm'n of New York Harbor (N.Y. 1977)
Quraishi v. Nyquist (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1976)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Memorandum. The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed. On this appeal, petitioner seeks an annulment of respondent police commissioner’s determination to terminate his services as a probationary police officer without a hearing. As a probationary employee, petitioner is not entitled to an administrative hearing concerning the reasons for his dismissal absent proof, not present in this record, that the dismissal was for an improper reason or in bad faith (Matter of Bergstein v Board of Educ., 34 NY2d 318; Haberman v Codd, 48 AD2d 505; Matter of Reeves v Golar, 45 AD2d 163; *861Matter of Ramos v Department of Mental Hygiene, 34 AD2d 925). In light of the uncontested facts concerning petitioner’s involvement with organized crime, even assuming that those liaisons were innocently undertaken in connection with his previous employment as a so-called undercover agent, the discharge was rationally based and not arbitrary nor capricious (see Matter of Talamo v Murphy, 38 NY2d 637; Matter of Farrell v New York City Police Dept. 37 NY2d 843). Also significant and supportive of respondent’s decision is the fact that neither prior to nor upon his entry into the police department, did petitioner disclose his organized crime contacts.

In his prayer for relief below, petitioner sought only an annulment of the commissioner’s determination and reinstatement as a probationary police officer. Consequently, we do not reach or pass upon the constitutional issue advanced by petitioner.

Chief Judge Breitel and Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg and Cooke concur.

Order affirmed, with costs, in a memorandum.

Case-law data current through September 30, 2026. Source: CourtListener bulk data.