Wilfredo Guzman Rockaway Township, CSC Docket No. 2020-34
NJ Civil Service Commission decision of January 15, 2020, CSC Docket No. 2020-34: discipline, denied. Wilfredo Guzman, Police Officer, Rockaway Township, Police Department, removal effective April 24, 2017, on charges of incompetency, inefficiency, or failure to perform duties, insubordination, cond
Commission decisions · Meeting of January 15, 2020
Wilfredo Guzman, Police Officer, Rockaway Township, Police Department, removal effective April 24, 2017, on charges of incompetency, inefficiency, or failure to perform duties, insubordination, conduct unbecoming a public employee, neglect of duty and other sufficient cause.
- Matter
- Discipline
- Decided
- January 15, 2020, item A-3
- Outcome
- Denied
- ALJ's recommendation
- Deny the motion for summary decision and reverse the fine.
- What the Commission did with it
- Adopted the ALJ's recommendation
- Penalty appealed
- removal
- Title
- POLICE OFFICER
- Employer
- Rockaway Township
- Chair at the time
- Deirdre L. Webster Cobb, Chairperson
- Official decision
- Published by CSC in its monthly archive bundle (A-003 1-15-20.pdf)
Action recorded in the minutes: The Civil Service Commission affirmed the recommendation of the Administrative Law Judge.
Rules this decision applies
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 appeal of Wilfredo Guzman, Police Officer, Rockaway Township, Police Department, removal effective April 24, 2017, on charges, was heard by Administrative Law Judge Nancy C. Stokes, who rendered her initial decision on December 3, 2019. No exceptions were filed.
AnalysisHaving considered the record and the Administrative Law Judge’s initial decision, and having made an independent evaluation of the record, the Civil Service Commission, at its meeting on January 15, 2020, accepted and adopted the Findings of Fact and Conclusion as contained in the attached Administrative Law Judge’s initial decision.
In this matter, the appellant’s removal from employment was rendered moot by his forfeiture of employment pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2. However, the issue as to whether he could be fined for his accrued leave time was decided by the Administrative Law Judge. Specifically, the Administrative Law Judge determined that the appointing authority could not fine the appellant for his accrued leave time.
ORDER
The Civil Service Commission finds the appointing authority’s fine of Wilfredo Guzman’s leave time was improper and reverses that action. ‘The Commission further orders that Guzman is entitled to reimbursement for the amount of that accrued leave time.
Counsel fees are denied pursuant to N.d/.A.C. 4A:2-2.12 as the primary issue of this appeal was Guzman’s removal from employment which was rendered moot. As such, he was not successful on the primary issue of the appeal.
ClosingThis is the final administrative determination in this matter. Any further review should be pursued in a judicial forum.
Later decisions that cite this one
- WILFREDO GUZMAN (June 17, 2020)
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