Ashley Banks, CSC Docket No. 2022-1902

Appellant's argumentAshley Banks requests to file an application for the open competitive examination for Principal Fiscal Analyst (M0615B), Newark School District.

BackgroundThe subject examination was announced on September 1, 2020, and the closing date was September 21, 2020. Only on-line applications were accepted, and the petitioner did not submit one. Forty-seven candidates have been admitted and the examination has not yet been held. The petitioner is currently an Administrative Analyst 3 with the Newark School District.

On January 20, 2022, the petitioner sent an email to the Division of Agency Services (Agency Services) stating that she did not file an application on time as she was out on maternity leave, and Agency Services instructed her to file an appeal. On February 17, 2022, the petitioner filed her request stating that she had given birth on June 28, 2020, and did not leave the hospital until September 26, 2020. She states that she was not in a condition to apply for the examination at that time.

CONCLUSION

RuleN.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1(e) provides, in pertinent part, that applications for open competitive and promotional examinations should be filed no later than the announced filing date for filing applications. N.J.A.C. 4A:4-6.6(a)1 states that an appeal shall be filed within 20 days of notice of the action, decision or situation being appealed.

AnalysisThe petitioner was not admitted to the subject examination since she did not file an application by the September 21, 2020 closing date. While her documentation indicates that she was out on maternity leave, her medical documentation does not establish that she was in the hospital for the three-week filing period, from September 1, 2020 through September 21, 2020. More importantly, the petitioner provides no explanation of why she waited almost a year and five months to file her request. Under these circumstances, the request is clearly very untimely.

Additionally, even if the petitioner had provided a reason for this late request, it would not be persuasive. In this regard, the petitioner provides a leave status follow-up form which indicates she was out on a leave of absence from work from July 20, 2020 to October 30, 2020. Although she claims that she was not in a condition to file an application during the filing period, she successfully filed an application for an examination for Administrative Analyst 3 (M0602B), Newark School District, on September 9, 2020. She also filed for three other open-competitive examinations and a promotional examination in August 2020. Given the fact that the petitioner successfully filed for five other examinations in August and September 2020, there is no reason to grant her untimely request in this matter. Accordingly, the petitioner has failed to uphold her burden of proof.

ORDER

Therefore, it is ordered that this request be denied.

ClosingThis is the final administrative determination in this matter. Any further review should be pursued in a judicial forum.