N.J.A.C. 4A:2-5.1 General provisions
N.J.A.C. 4A:2-5.1, General provisions. An appointing authority shall not take or threaten to take any reprisal action against an employee in the career, senior executive or unclassified service i Full text with 15 citing decisions.
Current through New Jersey Register, Vol. 58 No. 14, July 20, 2026. Reviewed as of July 26, 2026.
This is an annotated mirror, not the official publication. Verify against the Civil Service Commission before relying on it.
In plain language
Two protections sit in this section, with two different coverage lists, and that is the detail to get right. The whistleblower protection is the broader one. An appointing authority may not take or threaten any reprisal against an employee in the career, senior executive or unclassified service in retaliation for the employee lawfully disclosing information on a violation of any law or rule, on governmental mismanagement, or on abuse of authority. The political protection is narrower. It runs to career service employees and to senior executive service employees who hold career status, and it bars any action taken or threatened on the basis of permissible political activities or affiliations. State service employees in the unclassified service are brought into the subchapter as well, but only where they do not serve in policy making or confidential positions. Threatening the action is prohibited on the same footing as taking it, in both halves. The route for enforcing either is set out at 4A:2-5.2.
Written by the NJ Civil Service Navigator editorial team from the text of N.J.A.C. 4A:2-5.1. It is a description of the rule, not the rule itself, and not legal advice.
(a) An appointing authority shall not take or threaten to take any reprisal action against an employee in the career, senior executive or unclassified service in retaliation for an employee's lawful disclosure of information on the violation of any law or rule, governmental mismanagement or abuse of authority. #
(b) An appointing authority shall not take or threaten to take any action against an employee in the career service or an employee in the senior executive service with career status based on the employee's permissible political activities or affiliations. This subchapter shall also apply to State service employees in the unclassified service who do not serve in policy-making or confidential positions. #
How this rule has been applied
15 decisions have cited N.J.A.C. 4A:2-5.1. The list below is citations to those decisions, not the decisions. We have not written summaries for this section. A citation with no summary is deliberate: we do not paraphrase a decision we have not read. Nothing here is legal advice.
Superior Court (1)
- Ferraro v. City of Long Branch314 N.J.Super. 268; 714 A.2d 945
Civil Service Commission final determinations (13)
- In re S.M., Trenton Psychiatric Hosp., Dep't of Health, CSC Docket No. 2022-2182022 N.J. CSC LEXIS 304Docket 2022-218
- In re Negron, Hudson Cnty. Sheriff's Office, CSC Docket No. 2020-22352022 N.J. CSC LEXIS 83Docket 2020-2235
- In re Carter, et. al., City of Jersey City, et. al., CSC Docket Nos. 2021-381 (Consolidated)2021 N.J. CSC LEXIS 11Docket 2021-381
- In re T.M., Dep't of Educ., CSC Docket No. 2019-19562019 N.J. CSC LEXIS 534Docket 2019-1956
- In re I.C., East Orange, CSC Docket No. 2018-32632018 N.J. CSC LEXIS 703Docket 2018-3263
- In re Peggs, Twp. of Deptford, CSC Dkt. No. 2014-82014 N.J. CSC LEXIS 833
- In re Delinda Holmes, Paterson Housing Auth., CSC Docket No. 2013-26082014 N.J. CSC LEXIS 458Docket 2013-2608
- In re William Cullen, Berkeley Twp., DOP Dkt. No. 2013-16632013 N.J. CSC Lexis 664
- Kirshbaum v. Camden County97 N.J.A.R.2d (CSV) 197
- Pikolycky v. Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs94 N.J.A.R.2d (CSV) 685
- Layoff of supervisor; not based on retaliation or political retribution. 94 N.J.A.R.2d (CSV) 569.94 N.J.A.R.2d (CSV) 569
- Mendoza v. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility94 N.J.A.R.2d (CSV) 135
- Sandell v. Department of Law and Public Safety93 N.J.A.R.2d (CSV) 705
Office of Administrative Law initial decisions (1)
- In re Howe, City of Clifton2008 N.J. AGEN LEXIS 1545Docket CSV3601-06