ALTAMONT — Marc Dorsey, a former Altamont police officer who was removed from the force in 2003, will not get a hearing after all.

A decision last Thursday from the Appellate Division, the middle level of New York’s three-tiered court system, reversed a lower-court judgement that had granted Dorsey a hearing after he made claims for back pay; reinstatement to his job; and a hearing, pursuant to section 75 of the state’s Civil Service Law.

Dorsey was suspended from the Altamont department in December of 2003, following stalking charges filed against him in Albany. The charges were dropped in June of 2004, but he was never reinstated.

Dorsey sued the village in the fall of 2005. The following April, Supreme Court Judge Joseph Teresi granted that he was entitled to a hearing.

Section 75 of the Civil Service Law states that an employee with a competitive Civil Service job cannot be removed for disciplinary reasons without a hearing.
The latest ruling, though, says that Dorsey waited too long to make his claim for a hearing. Because Dorsey "took no action to demand pay or reinstatement until November 2004, he exceeded the four-month period permitted to make a demand as well as the four-month period thereafter within which to bring a proceeding," Thursday’s decision says. The panel of judges also ruled, "In light of this determination, we need not address respondents’ remaining contentions."
Dorsey was made full-time under former mayor Paul DeSarbo’s administration. "We were trying to just do him a favor," DeSarbo said of Dorsey, who had been aiming for the Albany Police Department and needed to be full-time in order to get there. "He kind of pulled a fast one on us," DeSarbo said, this week.

After the Albany Police Department found out about the stalking arrest, Dorsey wasn’t hired there, said DeSarbo. He did not know what Dorsey is currently doing. Dorsey could not be reached for comment and his lawyer, Brendan Tully, did not return calls before press time.
As a result of the stalking arrest, Dorsey lost his license to carry a gun, said Dionne Wheatley, who handled the case for the village. Altamont hired Wheatley to handle the case, rather than the village’s lawyer, Guy Roemer, because "Guy’s expertise is not in that area," Mayor James Gaughan said.

The case involving Dorsey’s license revocation was decided by Teresi, the same judge who ruled that he was entitled to a hearing, Wheatley said.

Also, upon finding that the address Dorsey claimed on employment paperwork was false, the Albany County Department of Civil Service revoked his permanent appointment, retroactive to 2003 or 2004, Wheatley said. He had written an address that was within the village; in order to get a permanent appointment in Altamont, one must live in the village, she said.
Dorsey can now file a notice of permission to appeal to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, but the case must address a unique or novel issue of law to be heard, Wheatley said. "It’s my belief that it would probably be dismissed," she said.
Gaughan said of Thursday’s decision, "I’m very pleased its done and over with and behind us."
DeSarbo, too, said that he was pleased with the outcome. He said of Dorsey’s requests, "He didn’t deserve it, nor should he get it."