N.J.A.C. 4A:1-5 Disability Discrimination Grievance Procedure
Every section of N.J.A.C. 4A:1-5, Disability Discrimination Grievance Procedure: 8 rules with full text, amendment history and citing decisions.
- 4A:1-5.1Definitions
Three definitions, and one of them changes what the rest of this subchapter is about. Agency means the New Jersey Civil Service Commission itself, not your employer and not a State department in general. So a grievance filed under 4A:1-5 is a grievance about the Commission complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act in its own services, programs and activities, which is a much narrower thing than the word agency suggests. Designated decision maker means the Chairperson or a designee, and that is who signs the written decision on a grievance under 4A:1-5.8. ADA means the Federal statute at 42 U.S.C. 12101 and following.
- 4A:1-5.2Purpose
This subchapter exists to satisfy a Federal requirement rather than a State one: the ADA and the regulation promulgated under it at 28 CFR 35.107. It does two things. It establishes a designated coordinator whose duties include assuring that the Commission complies with and carries out its ADA responsibilities. And it gives that coordinator the job of investigating any complaint filed with the Commission under 4A:1-5.5 through 5.8. Note what is absent from all of that. Nothing here places a duty on your own appointing authority. The compliance obligation being described belongs to the body that 4A:1-5.1 defines as the agency, which is the Commission.
- 4A:1-5.3Required ADA notice
Using this procedure is not a prerequisite to anything else, and the notice says so in terms. Filing an ADA grievance with the responsible Federal department or agency, or with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, does not impair the right to a prompt and equitable resolution here, and neither route has to wait for the other. The notice itself has to be given to anyone who asks about the Commission complying with the ADA or about accommodation that would let a qualified individual with a disability use its services, programs or activities. What it tells them: grievances go to the ADA Coordinator, New Jersey Civil Service Commission, PO Box 317, Trenton, New Jersey 08625; they may be written or oral; they should be filed within 30 days of the grievant becoming aware of the alleged violation; an informal but thorough investigation follows, with interested persons able to submit evidence; and in most cases a written determination issues within 45 days of filing. Employment related grievances follow N.J.A.C. 4A:7 where those rules apply.
- 4A:1-5.4Designated ADA coordinator
One office handles all of it, and the rule names a post office box rather than a person: the ADA Coordinator at the New Jersey Civil Service Commission, PO Box 317, Trenton. Two different kinds of contact are pointed there. Questions, meaning anything about whether the Commission is meeting its ADA obligations or whether accommodation is available to a qualified individual with a disability who wants to use a Commission service, program or activity. And grievances, meaning an allegation that the Commission has failed to comply with the ADA or has done something the ADA prohibits. Those run through the procedure at 4A:1-5.5 to 5.8, which sets the filing window, the required contents and the investigation.
- 4A:1-5.5Grievance procedure
Thirty days from the day the grievant becomes aware of the alleged violation. That is the whole filing window, and it runs from awareness rather than from the event itself. The grievance goes to the designated ADA coordinator identified in 4A:1-5.4, and it may be spoken rather than written, which is a real difference from appeals to the Commission: 4A:2-1.1 requires those to be in writing and signed. One diversion is built in. Where the allegation is employment discrimination, the grievance is processed under the Commission rules at N.J.A.C. 4A:7 if those rules apply, not under this subchapter.
- 4A:1-5.6Grievance contents
Three required items, and the first carries a feature worth noticing: the grievant may designate an alternate contact person to receive communications or supply information on their behalf, and the address and telephone number given can be that person rather than the grievant. The third item is the substance of the complaint, a description of the manner in which the ADA was not complied with or was violated, including the times and locations of events and the names of witnesses where appropriate. The form printed at 4A:1-5.7 may be used for all of this, but the rule requires the information, not the format.
- 4A:1-5.7Grievance form
The form is printed in full inside the rule, and using it is optional, since 4A:1-5.6 requires the information rather than the format. Beyond the identifying fields it asks which department, division, bureau or office is alleged to have denied access, and where. Then the incident or barrier itself: what benefit, service, program or activity was denied or what discrimination occurred, with dates, times and places, the names or positions of any agency employees involved, and names, addresses and telephone numbers of witnesses. The last field is optional and easy to skip. Headed proposed access or accommodation and prefaced with if you wish, it invites a description of what would actually resolve the problem. Copies come from the coordinator named at 4A:1-5.4.
- 4A:1-5.8Investigation
An acknowledgment is required, and it has to carry a date. On receiving a grievance the coordinator must tell the grievant it arrived, that an investigation has started, and by when the investigation is expected to be finished. The coordinator then investigates, prepares a report, and passes it to the designated decision maker, who renders the written decision and transmits it to the grievant or to the alternate contact person if one was designated. Both the target date and the decision carry the same 45 day limit measured from receipt of the grievance, and both carry the same two qualifiers: if practicable, or unless the grievant agrees to a later date. Those qualifiers are in the rule text, which makes 45 days a target rather than a hard bar.