Here’s one heck of a civics lesson for thཧe city’s public school kids.
T👍he Departm⭕ent of Education can’t fire a drug-addicted Brooklyn high-school teacher who was busted bringing 20 bags of heroin into a Manhattan courthouse, a judge has ruled.
Damian Esteban, 34, was caught with the dope hidden in a pack ꧟of cigarettes when he reported to Manhattan Supreme Court for jury duty in a murder trial in October 2012, court records s𒆙ay.
The DOE wanted to fire Esteban and an arbitrator agreed, 𝓀writing 🌟in his decision that, “He is not being punished for his addiction but for his reckless and irresponsible behavior” – and agreeing Esteban should get canned.
But in a ruling made public Thursday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Manue🐬l Mendez tossed the arbitrꦯator’s decision.
“There is no evidence that tꦰhe conduct with which [Esteban] was charged affects his performance as a teacher,” Mendez wrote in his decision, which orders the DOE to find a penalty for Esteban other than termination.
“Suspension🍎 without pay seems to be a more appropriate penalty,” Mendez wrote.
Esteban – who taught at High School for Architecture and Design – claimed he didn’t know the heroin was in his bag and ꦍthat he was no longer addicted to the drug, which he s🎉tarted using to deal with the pain of an ankle injury, court documents state.
꧋Mayor Bloomberg and city lawyers slammed the dec🥃ision.
“We could not disagree more strongly with the judge’s decision to overturn an arbitrator’s ruling terminating a teacher for possessing 20 bags of heroin,” Hizzoner said in a statement, adding that the city would appeal.
“We strongly disagree with the court and believe that it misapplied the law,” said city Law Department head Michael Cardoza. “We cannot fathom how a teacher who took 20 bags of heroin into a courthouse is fit to stand in front of a classroom and teach the City’s schoolchildren.”
The DOE did not provide a comment.