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Arroyo v. Board of Education of Howard County6/10/2004
the grounds of "willful neglect of duty" and "insubordination."
The incident that set in motion the events leading to petitioner's termination occurred on May 11, 1995, when petitioner had a physical altercation with a teacher at Oakland Mills. As a result of the injuries that he suffered at the hands of this teacher, petitioner had to be taken to a hospital emergency room for treatment. After being released from the hospital's care, petitioner received a disability certificate from his treating physician for the period of May 12-30, 1995. Petitioner did not work during this period and he did not return to work at Oakland Mills after May 30th.
During the summer of 1995, petitioner was transferred to Mt. Hebron High School ("Mt. Hebron") so as to alleviate any concerns he might have about working in the same building with the other teacher involved in the physical altercation. Petitioner, allegedly still traumatized by the physical altercation that previous May, did not report to work at Mt. Hebron in August 1995 and remained absent from work even after an independent medical examination was conducted at the behest of HCPSS by Dr. Steven W. Siebert, M.D., a psychiatrist. Dr. Siebert declared, in pertinent part, that " here is no medical basis, from a psychiatric perspective, to support [petitioner] remaining out of work provided [petitioner] is working in another location."
On October 23, 1995, Dr. Michael E. Hickey, the superintendent of HCPSS, concerned with petitioner's failure to return to work, and also aware of Dr. Seibert's report, informed petitioner that if he did not return to work by October 30th, the superintendent would recommend to the County Board that petitioner be terminated from his position. Although petitioner reported to work on October 30, 1995, after that brief one-day return he proceeded to be absent from work for the remainder to the 1995-96 school year.
In a letter dated March 22, 1996, Superintendent Hickey informed petitioner that if he did not report to Mt. Hebron by April 1, 1996, or obtain an approved leave of absence, he would recommend to the County Board that petitioner be terminated for neglecting his professional duties. After petitioner failed to report to work on April 1, 1996, or, in the alternative, obtain an approved leave of absence, Superintendent Hickey did exactly as he had indicated he would do and recommended that petitioner be terminated.
Following an evidentiary hearing conducted by the County Board's hearing examiner, who found that there was sufficient cause to recommend petitioner's termination, the County Board adopted the hearing examiner's recommendation and issued a decision, dated January 31, 1997, that stated that petitioner was to be terminated for "willful neglect of duty" and "insubordination."
Thereafter, petitioner appealed the County Board's decision to the State Board, which assigned the matter to an administrative law judge (ALJ). After conducting a de novo hearing, the ALJ recommended that petitioner be terminated. Based on the ALJ's findings and recommendation, the State Board issued an "opinion" on May 28, 1998 that concluded that petitioner was lawfully terminated for "willful neglect of duty."
Petitioner then sought judicial review of the State Board's decision in the Circuit Court for Howard County. After a hearing, the Circuit Court issued a memorandum opinion and order on April 8, 1999, affirming the administrative decision of the State Board. Petitioner then filed an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals. On June 14, 2000, in an unreported opinion, the intermediate appellate court affirmed the judgment of the Circuit Court.
On February 8,
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