Cobble Hill letter to klein - Special Commissioner of Investigation

Hon. J. I. Klein -30- June 26, 2007
administrative immunity when she read the draft of Scarcella’s Cobble Hill report. 94
Europe said that she then questioned Scarcella who told her that OSI was allowed to
grant the immunity based on what Chad Vignola had done on a prior case. 95 Europe, who
understood that the use of immunity from disciplinary action had been a “one time
thing,” then contacted Hyland who said that Vignola had authorized him to use it in
future cases as needed. According to Europe, Hyland specifically told her that, during a
conversation with Vignola, the General Counsel said to Hyland, “I trust your judgment”
in making decisions involving the use of administrative immunity.
Europe testified that she supervised the Cobble Hill matter once the findings of
the OSI investigation were turned over to the Administrative Trials Unit of OLS. Europe
said that she approved the specifications that George was charged with before they were
sent to the Region. Europe also reported that there was “constant supervision” of the
George trial and that she had “a lot of contact” with Rodriguez during it.
Europe believed that the DOE had proven the case against George, she disagreed
with the decision rendered in the George proceeding which dismissed all charges against
George, and she blamed the finding on the hearing officer’s dislike of Nobile. Asked
whether Capra might be removed from the ineligible inquiry list in light of the George
decision, Europe said that former Assistant Principal would remain on it because there
was “no doubt there was Regents cheating going on.”
Philip Nobile, May 2007
Through his attorney, Philip Nobile declined the opportunity to be interviewed by
SCI investigators.
Telephone Records
SCI investigators subpoenaed relevant documentation in an effort to determine the
extent of contact between Nobile and Scarcella during the OSI investigation and the OLS
prosecution of George. An analysis of Nobile’s telephone records revealed 114 calls to
Scarcella’s telephones between May 2004 and July 2006. An analysis of Scarcella’s
telephone records revealed 121 calls to Nobile’s residence between July 2004 and July
2006.
94 Although Scarcella did not use that term, Europe acknowledged that administrative immunity was what
the witnesses had received.
95 Scarcella was referring to the only other case in which OSI had used administrative immunity. That was
the matter described by Hyland; it involved a different set of circumstances than those in Cobble Hill.