Former lawyer Robert Philip Tuerk of Pennsylvania has been denied a job as an emergency substitute teacher after education officials determined that he did not meet the requirement for good moral character. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently upheld the moral character requirement and ruled against Tuerk in a March 24 opinion.
Tuerk was twice suspended in Pennsylvania, first for failing to disclose an expunged conviction on his bar application and then for failing to disclose his prior discipline in his application for admission to a federal court. He was later disbarred in Pennsylvania for reciprocal discipline due to disbarment in Florida. Tuerk failed to respond to an order to show cause in a Florida disciplinary case, which alleged that he had not provided an affidavit listing the people he had notified of a previous suspension.
Despite checking “yes” on his teaching application when asked whether any professional license he obtained had been revoked or suspended, Tuerk attempted to justify his previous disciplinary actions to education officials. He claimed that his suspension for failing to disclose the arrest was an “inadvertent mistake,” his second suspension was for an “administrative admission process error,” and his Florida disbarment was due to a “breakdown in communication unbeknownst” to him.
Tuerk also claimed that he did not know he had to be admitted to the federal bar separately from the state bar and that he verbally told the federal admission manager about his previous discipline. He told the Florida Bar that he had not received notice of the disciplinary proceedings.
Tuerk argued that he had remorse for his past actions and that his “volunteer activities with youth, the sick, animals, and church [were] proof of his reform.” However, the acting deputy secretary of education in Pennsylvania concluded that Tuerk did not take responsibility for his past conduct because of his “continuing to attempt to explain away the discipline” imposed by the Pennsylvania and Florida Bar.
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court agreed with the acting deputy secretary’s findings that Tuerk had tried to deflect blame for his disciplinary troubles. As a result, the court ruled that Tuerk did not satisfy the requirement for good moral character to become an emergency substitute teacher in Pennsylvania.
The ruling highlights the importance of good moral character in various professions, including teaching. It also serves as a reminder that disciplinary actions against professionals can negatively affect their careers. In Tuerk’s case, his past disciplinary troubles have prevented him from practicing law and hindered his ability to pursue other careers.
