A former public-school teacher is suing to get his job back, saying he was denied a fair hearing by a Department of Education arbitrator who nodded off during his proceeding, then lashed out at him when he awakened her.
Noah Berkley had taught at Timothy Dwight Elementary School in The Bronx from 2005 until last year, when he was accused of kicking a 6-year-old girl, putting his hand on another student’s thigh and urinating in front of kids in the student lavatory.
Berkley’s suit says the girl testified that the assault never happened and that the other allegations were based on flimsy claims.
Berkley, 57, of Harlem, says in his Manhattan civil suit that the hearing officer, Gloria Johnson, “exhibited difficulty staying awake several times during the proceedings [last October].
Once, after Berkley woke her from sleep, the hearing officer excitedly accused him of attempting to “harm [her] reputation, of stalking her, and of intimidating witnesses.”
Johnson terminated Berkley’s employment on Feb. 1.
Berkley was not criminally charged. His attorney, Stuart Lichten, called his client’s ouster “a tremendous injustice.”
Johnson did not return requests for comment. A city spokesman said, “We will review the papers once we are served.”