Theodore v. Department of Health & Human Resources

GROVER L. COVINGTON, Chief Judge.

An employee of Charity Hospital appeals her suspension for 15 days without pay, which resulted from a physical altercation with another employee in the Low Risk Nursery. An appeals referee of the Civil Service Commission had affirmed the suspension, while acknowledging that appellant was not the aggressor in the fight and that she reacted “spontaneously or reflexively” to the first blow by the other employee. Appellant contends here (1) that she should not be punished for reacting instinctively and in self-defense to an unprovoked attack by another employee…