George Washington won its third city championship this spring, but it hasn’t been all winning for the powerhouse baseball program.
Just ask Steve Mandl.
The legendary coach with two city titles and more than 900 career wins in 27 seasons was suspended for one year Feb. 15 by the PSAL for alleged illegal recruiting and after a series of litigations didn’t go his way, the suspension was upheld.
The final decision came down recently when New York State Supreme Justice Shlomo Hagler dismissed Mandl’s lawsuit against the city and other parties because he “failed to exhaust his administrative remedies” before suing the city.
“We feel that the Court came to the correct decision in dismissing the lawsuit and not lifting the one-year suspension,” New York City Law Department spokesperson Elizabeth Thomas said in a statement. “As the decision notes, Mr. Mandl failed to exhaust his administrative remedies before suing.”
Mandl and his attorney, Milo Silberstein, contended he was never given his due process rights, as he was suspended without a formal hearing back in mid-February. The United Federation of Teachers filed a grievance on his behalf May 2 to have the suspension lifted and Mandl and his lawyers also filed a claim of notice.
The PSAL and Board of Education were required to have a Step 1 hearing within five days of the grievance, but failed to do so. The UFT demanded a Step 2 hearing, which was accepted.
When Mandl and his UFT rep arrived for the Step 2 hearing on March 15, Silberstein said, the PSAL didn’t attend. Silberstein said after the DOE spoke with PSAL director Donald Douglas regarding the matter, it came to the conclusion Mandl was denied his right to a hearing, that inappropriate actions took place, and another meeting was set up for him him at the PSAL offices on March 23.
At that time, Mandl defended himself with his UFT rep by his side and was told a decision would come down in the next few days. Six weeks later, on May 5, Mandl received a letter from the PSAL upholding his suspension.
“It’s all very clearly calculated to make him miss the whole season,” Silberstein told Hagler during one proceeding. “We believe provisional relief would be warranted in this case. We believe the [PSAL and DOE] acted in bad faith.”
The city, meanwhile, said it was up to the UFT to bring the case to arbitration before it went to court. Clearly, Hagler agreed.
The suspension revolved around Mandl’s alleged recruiting of current George Washington center fielder Fernelys Sanchez, who transferred from Lehman at the start of his sophomore year. Ironically, Sanchez figured prominently in the Trojans’ title run, making several momentum-turning catches. The Department of Education and the PSAL began the investigation when Lehman coach Adam Droz filed a complaint against Mandl, saying he recruited Sanchez while he attended Lehman.
George Washington dedicated its season to Mandl by hanging his white No. 32 jersey in its dugout. He attended the city championship game and was seen celebrating down the right-field line with his players after the dramatic 4-2 win over defending champion Tottenville, tears in his eyes.
At the time, Mandl was optimistic he would at least be able to return in the fall for workouts. Instead, he will have to wait several months longer.