Opinion
Argued April 27, 2000.
June 5, 2000.
In a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 to review the respondents' determination dated April 1, 1998, terminating the petitioner's employment as a probationary employee in the Department of Motor Vehicles, the petitioner appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Lally, J.), dated March 8, 1999, which denied the petition and dismissed the proceeding.
John J. Leo, New York, N.Y., for appellant.
Eliot Spitzer, Attorney-General, New York, N.Y. (Robert A. Forte and Deon J. Nossel of counsel), for respondents.
Before: THOMAS R. SULLIVAN, J.P., LEO F. McGINITY, HOWARD MILLER, NANCY E. SMITH, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
"A probationary employee may be terminated without a hearing and without a statement of reasons in the absence of a showing that the termination was for a constitutionally impermissible purpose, in bad faith, or in violation of statutory or decisional law" (Matter of Iannuzzi v. Town of Brookhaven, 258 A.D.2d 651). The petitioner has the burden of demonstrating bad faith by competent evidence, not speculation (see, Matter of Williams v. Commissioner of Off. of Mental Health of State of N.Y., 259 A.D.2d 623; Matter of Leskow v. Office Ct. Admin., State of N.Y., Unified Ct. Sys., 248 A.D.2d 1004). As the petition fails to allege facts which support the petitioner's conclusory claim of discrimination, or to otherwise show bad faith, the petition was properly denied and the proceeding was properly dismissed.