Is It Worth Appealing New Jersey Civil Service Discipline?

Should I file a civil service appeal?  Well, read what a New Jersey appellate court’s recent decision said, and you will probably decide the answer is yes.

Background

Mina Ekladious had nine years of experience as a firefighter and earned a certification as a Firefighter I before he was conditionally hired by the Jersey City Fire Department.  The offer was contingent upon completing the Morris County Fire Academy, which trains prospective Jersey City firefighters.  He was removed as a firefighter for failing the physical examination at the Fire Academy.  Ekladious appealed his removal to the New Jersey Civil Service Commission, which referred the case to the Office of Administrative Law for a hearing.

The testimony, which included Ekladious and a fellow recruit on his behalf, demonstrated that the academy required that recruits pass tests for vertical jump, a mile and a half run, situps, pushups, and a  sprint.  Recruits had to pass all components to graduate.  Ekladious was “treated poorly by the instructors,” including being called “fatty” and other derogatory names by a captain.  The instructors wrote him up for infractions including failure to shave and sleeping in class, which he disputed under oath.  On his test, the instructors undercounted the repetitions he did for pushups and situps. He was improperly scored on the running tests so that he failed those too.

Because he failed the physical test, Jersey City served a disciplinary notice for various violations based on his alleged failure at the Academy and terminated him.

The New Jersey Civil Service Commission Appeal

Ekladious appealed to the New Jersey Civil Service Commission, which transferred it to the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, where an administrative law judge (known as an “ALJ”) conducted a trial.  The ALJ found that Ekladious and the other recruit were credible, and the witnesses from the Academy were not.  Therefore, the ALJ found that the City had failed to meet its burden of proof to support Ekladious’s dismissal.  It awarded him back pay, benefits and seniority, and ordered him to be enrolled in the next available class at a different fire academy.  The Civil Service Commission and denied Jersey City’s motion for reconsideration.

Jersey City appealed to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey.  The Appellate Division affirmed the New Jersey Civil Service Commission’s decision.  Its decision, in the case of In the Matter of Mina Ekladious, Jersey City, Department of Public Safety, is worth examining.

Burden of Proof in Appeals to the New Jersey Civil Service Commission

Even though the employee was not “disciplined” in the common sense of the word, termination of employment is still considered discipline for purposes of appeals to the Civil Service Commission.  The appeals court explained that in civil service disciplinary appeals, the burden of proof is on the employer.  The employer must prove by a preponderance of the evidence (meaning it must prove that it was more likely than not) that the disciplinary action was appropriate.  The Civil Service Commission will base its decisions on the ALJ’s determinations of credibility based on the presentation of evidence and testimony at the trial.

Burden of Proof in Appeals of Civil Service Commission Decisions to Appellate Division

The Appellate Division explained that in appeals from New Jersey state administrative agencies, such as the Civil Service Commission, the appellant has the burden of proof to prove by a preponderance of the credible evidence that the agency’s decision was arbitrary and capricious, meaning that it did not comply with the law, the decision was not supported by credible evidence in the record, or that the agency made a clear error when applying the law to the facts.  Appeals courts will not second guess an ALJ’s or the Civil Service Commission’s evaluations of the credibility of witnesses and evidence at the hearing unless they are clearly wrong.

The Takeaway

The ALJ, the Civil Service Commission and the Appellate Division found in favor of the employee, despite the testimony of instructors and supervisors from the Academy.  While this is not always the case, it clearly demonstrates that New Jersey civil service employees will get a fair hearing by the ALJ, the Civil Service Commission and the Appellate Division.  Therefore, while it is impossible to predict what will happen in any particular case, the Ekladious case clearly demonstrates that it is very often worth it to appeal civil service discipline.

Questions About New Jersey Civil Service Appeals

If you have questions about New Jersey Civil Service appeals or any area of employment law please fill out the contact form on this page or call (973) 890-0004 to speak with one of our New Jersey employment attorneys.  We can help.