ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

Citation: Rossi v. Board of Education of City School District of Utica, 465 N.Y.S.2d 630,
(1983 N.Y. Misc.).
Key Facts: Rossi worked for the Utica school district for 20 years and his last 3 were as a
K-8 principal. His position, however, was abolished and he was reassigned as principal at a K-6
school. He did maintain his K-8 salary upon reassignment. However, he did not receive step
increments that he was scheduled to receive on his K-8 salary scale. Moreover, numerous K-8
principal positions had come open and Rossi had not been chosen to assume one of those
positions, which would be in keeping with § 2510 of the Education Law, which mandates that a
public employee involuntarily reassigned due to the abolition of their position is entitled to the
next vacancy barring no work-related competency concerns.
Issues: (1) Did Rossi’s reassignment to the K-6 school comply with state statutes in
regard to similarity? (2) Was the district required to maintain Rossi’s previous salary structure?
Holding: The court held that the positions were similar and that Rossi was due back pay
for lost wages and a recalculation of his current salary to reflect the proper salary scale.
Reasoning: In short, the court determined that the K-6 and K-8 principals were similar on
most fronts when considering the administrative and clerical demands of each position. The
greatest discrepancy noted between the positions was that the 7th and 8th grade students added
greater complexity to the job as they were not in self-contained classes but rather moved from
class to class. This created further responsibility in regard to scheduling and supervision.
However, in the eyes of the court, the two jobs were not significantly different enough to warrant
Rossi’s salary schedule being changed. Thus the board erred in moving Rossi from a K-8 salary
scale to a K-6 scale.
58