Homero Almanzar, CSC Docket No. 2023-1604
NJ Civil Service Commission decision of January 17, 2024, CSC Docket No. 2023-1604: discipline, penalty upheld. Homero Almanzar, County Police Sergeant, Union County, Department of Public Safety, 120 working day suspension and demotion to County Police Officer, effective January 13, 2023, on charges
Commission decisions · Meeting of January 17, 2024
Homero Almanzar, County Police Sergeant, Union County, Department of Public Safety, 120 working day suspension and demotion to County Police Officer, effective January 13, 2023, on charges of incompetency, inefficiency or failure to perform duties, inability to perform duties, conduct unbecoming a public employee, neglect of duty and other sufficient cause.
- Matter
- Discipline
- Decided
- January 17, 2024, item A-2
- Outcome
- Penalty upheld
- ALJ's recommendation
- Uphold the 120 working day suspension and demotion.
- What the Commission did with it
- Adopted the ALJ's recommendation
- Penalty appealed
- 120 working day suspension
- Title
- COUNTY POLICE SERGEANT
- Employer
- Union County
- Chair at the time
- Allison Chris Myers, Acting Chairperson
- Official decision
- CSC's 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.
BackgroundThe appeal of Homero Almanzar, County Police Sergeant, Union County, Department of Public Safety, 120 working day suspension and demotion to County Police Officer, effective January 13, 2023, on charges, was heard by Administrative Law Judge Susana E. Guerrero (ALJ), who rendered her initial decision on November 30, 2023. No exceptions were filed.
AnalysisHaving considered the record and the ALJ’s initial decision, and having made an independent evaluation of the record, the Civil Service Commission (Commission), at its meeting on January 17, 2024, adopted the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of the ALJ and her recommendation to uphold the 120 working day suspension and demotion.
The Commission makes only the following comments. In her initial decision, the ALJ indicated that at the hearing, the appointing authority argued for the appellant’s removal, which she rejected. However, such an argument should not have even been entertained as while N.J.S.A. 11A:2-19 states that the Commission has the authority to increase or decrease the penalty imposed by an appointing authority, “removal shall not be substituted for a lesser penalty.” Thus, in this matter, as the original penalty imposed was a 120 working day suspension! and demotion, neither the ALJ nor the Commission could consider the appointing authority’s request to remove the appellant. With that said, the Commission, in its de novo review, wholeheartedly agrees with the ALJ in this matter that the penalties imposed for the infractions committed are appropriate and are neither unduly harsh nor shocking to the conscious.
1 The Commission also notes that a 120 working day suspension, which is approximately six calendar months, is the most significant suspension that can be imposed absent pending criminal charges. See N.J.S.A. 11A:2-20.
ORDER
The Civil Service Commission finds that the action of the appointing authority in suspending and demoting the appellant were justified. The Commission therefore upholds those actions and dismisses the appeal of Homero Almanzar.
ClosingThis is the final administrative determination in this matter. Any further review should be pursued in a judicial forum.
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