Karen Sales Union County, CSC Docket No. 2018-3365, 2018-3366
NJ Civil Service Commission decision of April 28, 2021, CSC Docket No. 2018-3365: discipline, penalty upheld. Karen Sales, Human Services Specialist 2, Union County, Department of Human Services, two removals effective July 16, 2014, on charges of insubordination, conduct unbecoming a public employe
Commission decisions · Meeting of April 28, 2021
Karen Sales, Human Services Specialist 2, Union County, Department of Human Services, two removals effective July 16, 2014, on charges of insubordination, conduct unbecoming a public employee and other sufficient cause.
- Matter
- Discipline
- Decided
- April 28, 2021, item A-5
- Outcome
- Penalty upheld
- ALJ's recommendation
- Uphold the removals.
- What the Commission did with it
- Adopted the ALJ's recommendation
- Title
- HUMAN SERVICES SPECIALIST 2
- Employer
- Union County
- Chair at the time
- Deirdre L. Webster Cobb, Chairperson
- Official decision
- Published by CSC in its monthly archive bundle (A-005 4-28-21.pdf)
Action recorded in the minutes: The Civil Service Commission affirmed the recommendation of the Administrative Law Judge.
This docket at the Commission
- November 24, 2020, item A-4Sent back to the Office of Administrative LawThe Civil Service Commission remanded the matter to the Office of Administrative Law.
- April 28, 2021, item A-5Penalty upheldThe Civil Service Commission affirmed the recommendation of the Administrative Law Judge.
The decision
CSC published this decision as a scanned image. The text below was recognized by OCR, read twice and checked against the meeting minutes, but OCR can misread a word. The official document is the record.
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BackgroundThe appeals of Karen Sales, Human Services Specialist 2, Union County, Department of Human Services, two removals effective July 16, 2014, on charges, were heard by Administrative Law Judge Jude-Anthony Tiscornia (ALJ), who rendered his initial decision on September 17, 2020. Exceptions were filed on behalf of the appellant and a reply to exceptions was filed on behalf of the appointing authority.
AnalysisHaving considered the record and the ALJ's initial decision, as well as the exceptions and reply, and having made an independent evaluation of the record, the Civil Service Commission (Commission), at its meeting of November 24, 2020, remanded the matter back to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL).
In brief, this matter involved two disciplinary removals based on charges that Sales inappropriately utilized the New Jersey Kids Deserve Support (NJKiDS) system on several occasions. The hearing at OAL spanned four days and included three witnesses, including the appellant. The ALdJ’s initial decision only briefly summarized the testimony of the witnesses and somewhat summarily concluded that the charges and the penalty should be upheld.
After review, the Commission cannot make a final determination based on the initial decision as presented. In this regard, the Commission requests a more explicit recitation of each witnesses’ testimony as well as more fully reasoned credibility determinations. Additionally, the Commission requires a more detailed description of how the appellant's sustained misconduct supports upholding each separate charge found in the Final Notice of Disciplinary Action. Finally, the
Commission requests that the ALJ provide further detail and rationale regarding how the sustained charges support the recommended removal. In undertaking these tasks, unless otherwise determined by the ALJ, he need not convene any further proceedings and may utilize the current underlying record. To facilitate this remand, the Commission will return the entire underlying file materials to the ALJ, including the transcripts of the underlying hearing, for further review.
ORDER
The Civil Service Commission remands this matter to the Office of Administrative Law as described above.
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