Hana Hameed, CSC Docket No. 2025-291

Appellant's argumentHana Hameed requests relief regarding the open competitive (C0711F) and promotional (PC1963F) examinations for Supervising Program Development Specialist (Criminal Justice), Hudson County.

BackgroundAs background, a promotional examination for Supervising Program Development Specialist (Criminal Justice) (PC1963F), Hudson County, was announced with a closing date of February 21, 2024 and was open, in pertinent part, to employees serving in the Department of Housing and Community Reintegration. The appellant was deemed ineligible via a May 1, 2024 ineligibility notice because she was serving in the Department of Family Services per official personnel records found in the County and Municipal Personnel System (CAMPS). See N.J.A.C. 4A:4- 2.6(a)2 (promotional examination applicant must be currently serving in the announced unit scope).

As further background, C.M., who did not have underlying permanent status, received a provisional appointment, pending open competitive examination procedures, to the subject title, effective October 10, 2023. See N.J.A.C. 4A:4-1.5(a). As a result, an open competitive examination for Supervising Program Development Specialist (Criminal Justice) (C0711F), Hudson County, was announced on May 1, 2024 with a closing date of May 21, 2024 and was open to Hudson County and New Jersey residents who possessed the open competitive requirements. See N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1(a) (on daily basis, open competitive examination announcements shall be posted on, and applications made available through, this agency’s web site). The examination was processed as a qualifying examination, where all candidates who met the eligibility requirements received the same score. See N.J.S.A. 11A:4-1. There were eight applications, six of which were rejected because those applicants did not meet the eligibility requirements. Consequently, those six applicants did not appear on the eligible list. The appellant did not apply for C0711F. The resulting eligible list of two names, T.R. and C.M.,1 promulgated on August 1, 2024 with an expiration date of July 31, 2026. A certification issued from the eligible list on August 5, 2024 (OL240833), and it is outstanding.

Appellant's argumentIn her appeal to the Civil Service Commission, postmarked August 3, 2024, the appellant contends that she was discriminatorily excluded from the promotional examination (PC1963F) because she effectively fell within the correct unit scope as of February 1, 2023; claims non-receipt of the May 1, 2024 ineligibility notice; questions the announcement of the open competitive examination (C0711F), which she characterizes as a “re-listing” of PC1963F; and requests to be added to the C0711F eligible list.

Additionally, the appellant questions how it could legitimately have been the case for her to have been rejected from PC1963F based on a unit scope issue, while C.M. was not rejected from C0711F while being similarly “out of the [unit] scope.”

CONCLUSION

Initially, this appeal appears untimely. In this regard, the C0711F examination was announced on May 1, 2024, and the appellant was also notified of her ineligibility for the PC1963F examination on May 1, 2024. However, this appeal was postmarked August 3, 2024, more than 20 days later. See N.J.A.C. 4A:2-1.1(b). Although the appellant claims non-receipt of the May 1, 2024 ineligibility notice, she provides no proof such as a sworn affidavit. Nevertheless, even assuming this appeal were timely filed, there would be no basis for relief as discussed below.

Per N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.6(a)2, applicants shall meet all requirements specified in the promotional examination announcement by the closing date. The PC1963F examination was announced open to the Department of Housing and Community Reintegration and had a closing date of February 21, 2024. As of that closing date, the appellant was still assigned to the Department of Family Services, per CAMPS, and was properly deemed ineligible. This appeal does not present any substantive evidence to the contrary.

The C0711F announcement was not a “re-listing” of the PC1963F announcement. PC1963F was a promotional examination open to permanent employees in the Department of Housing and Community Reintegration, while C0711F was an open competitive examination open to residents of Hudson County and New Jersey. Here, Hudson County made a provisional appointment of an individual, C.M., who was not a permanent employee. Therefore, it was necessary to announce the C0711F open competitive examination, which issued on May 1, 2024 with a closing date of May 21, 2024. N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.3(b)2 provides, in pertinent part, that applicants for open competitive examinations shall meet all requirements contained in the announcement. N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1(e) provides, in pertinent part, that applications for open competitive examinations shall be submitted no later than 4:00 P.M. on the announced application filing date. In this case, the application filing date was May 21, 2024. The examination was announced to the public – including the appellant – on this agency’s website with a weeks-long window to file in May 2024. Therefore, this appeal does not present a sufficient basis to permit the submission of an application after the filing deadline, let alone automatic placement on the C0711F eligible list.

1 C.M. did not apply for PC1963F.

Finally, there were legitimate reasons for the appellant’s rejection from the PC1963F promotional examination. A promotional examination applicant must be currently serving in the announced unit scope. See N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.6(a)2. As already discussed, the appellant did not meet that requirement.2 An open competitive examination applicant, on the other hand, has no unit scope requirement to meet. See N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.3(b). As such, C.M.’s unit scope assignment simply had no bearing in determining whether she was eligible for C0711F.

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.