Different Agency...Same Standard for Judicial Review

After being fired when she refused to teach her nutrition classes in English, plaintiff filed a claim asserting that the real reason was discrimination based on her national origin. The First Department, in Matter of Pascual v. New York State Div. of Human Rights, decided on February 8, 2007, upheld the agency's finding that plaintiff had not met her burden of proving that the stated reason for the termination was pretextual. The Court found that that the determination had "a rational basis in the record" and that it "was not abitrary or capricious." The Court noted that the agency "has broad discretion in determining the method to be employed in investigating a claim, and its determination will not be overturned unless the record demonstrates that its investigation was abbreviated or one-sided."