Phyllis S. Jaffe

Phyllis S. Jaffe, Education Labor Law Pioneer passed away December 22, 2008 Phyllis Shelley Jaffe, an early practitioner of education labor law in New York State and a partner at Plunkett & Jaffe, P.C., died at home in Ossining, N.Y., on December 22. She was 83. As head of the Plunkett & Jaffe Westchester office, based in White Plains, N.Y., she represented 32 school boards in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, and Ulster counties. In addition to negotiations with teachers' and other unions, Jaffe's focus included the rights of students under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act and its successors. Also, in Immediato v. Rye Neck School District, she defended the right of high schools to make community service a graduation requirement. Her argument was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. When the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the Court of Appeals decision became final. Phyllis Ruth Shelley was born on February 13, 1925 in Queens, N.Y., to Robert and Jessie Shelley. After graduating from Queens College during World War II, she enlisted in the Women's Army Corps, where she served at Mason General Hospital on Long Island as a medical technician in the psychiatric ward and as editor of the base newspaper. In 1947 she married Frederick S. Jaffe, a newspaper reporter who later was a vice-president of Planned Parenthood, and the founder and director of what is now the Guttmacher Institute. In 1949, Jaffe graduated from Columbia Law School, one of three women in a class of 103. She went on to practice law in a neighborhood law firm in the Bronx. To raise a family, she put aside her legal career but became active in civic affairs, serving on the PTA as well as on Ossining's Community Action Board. Jaffe was elected to the Ossining Board of Education in 1964 and served for five years, becoming president in 1966. Her leadership through those turbulent times helped keep the community together. It was during this period that she learned to navigate the newly-passed Taylor Law, which set the basis for public-sector collective bargaining throughout New York State. Returning to work at age 44, Jaffe edited a legal newsletter for Prentice-Hall, Inc., then joined the New York City Board of Education's Office of Collective Bargaining, handling talks with the United Federation of Teachers. She went on to be staff attorney for the Board of Cooperative Educational Services in northern Westchester. In 1975, she joined what later became Plunkett & Jaffe. She retired in 2002. Jaffe was preceded in death by her husband and her brother, Edwin Shelley. She is survived by, and will be missed by, her sons Paul, David (wife Leslie Sholl Jaffe) and Rick (wife Kim Voss); four grandchildren, Dara, Gary, Eli and Julian Jaffe; brother, Heywood Shelley, his wife Maritza Shelley, and their daughter and granddaughter; and sister-in-law Florence Shelley and her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Donations can be made in the name of Phyllis Jaffe to The Clearview School, 480 Albany Post Road, Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510. The Clearview serves children with developmental and other challenges. In memoriam, the family (pauljaffe@verizon.net) is planning a service to be held at a later date. Dorsey Funeral Home, Inc. 14 Emwilton Pl., Ossining 914-941-0167 www.dorseyfuneral.com