NJ Appellate Division Upholds Civil Service Reinstatement Order for Jersey City Recruit

The Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court has upheld a decision by the New Jersey Civil Service Commission ordering that a recruit for the Jersey City Fire Department be reinstated and admitted to another fire academy. Mina Ekladious washed out of the Morris County Fire Academy in 2019.

Ekladious had been a firefighter in Wellington, New Jersey for nine years prior to his appointment to Jersey City, and had obtained his Firefighter 1 certification. However, according to the decision, he was struggling with his weight. Quoting from the decision:

• Ekladious testified Capt. Hamilton called him “fatty” at the academy, among other derogatory and insulting names.
• At the administrative hearing, Dominick Ciccarelli, a recruit in the same training class, testified based on his observations that Ekladious was treated poorly by the instructors.
• Ciccarelli further testified that many instructors made demeaning remarks to Ekladious about his weight.
• Academy trainers wrote up Ekladious for failing to properly shave, and they gave him a written warning for sleeping in class .
• Ekladious testified that he was clean shaven every day, and he denied sleeping in class.
• In addition, Ekladious scored well on the various fire related exercises, despite trainers not issuing him a protective uniform in his size.
• Witnesses gave conflicting testimony about Ekladious’s first physical assessment on October 18. His instructors failed him for four of the five assessments. Ekladious countered, testifying that he and a recruit who was assisting him counted four more sit-ups than required to pass-even though the instructor only gave him credit for twelve. Ekladious was also failed for the push-ups, even though he testified he did forty, while Capt. Hamilton advised the instructor to “give him a zero.” Next, the record shows Ekladious failed the 300-meter sprint and the mile and a half run. Ekladious testified that he was improperly and unfairly timed in each of these tests.
• On October 21, 2019 the city issued Ekladious a “Notice of Failure to Fully Participate,” stating that he had failed to pass the physical assessment. He was instructed that his reassessment would be conducted on November 1, and that failure to pass would result in dismissal.
• On November 1, 2019, Ekladious took the reassessment test. Running in poor weather conditions, he allegedly failed the sprint test and was therefore barred from taking the mile run or push – up retests.
• On December 26, 2019 the city issued Ekladious a Final Notice of Disciplinary Action (FDNA), and it charged him with: conduct not becoming a Firefighter; incompetency and incapacity, mentally or physically; and not properly performing duty.
• Ekladious appealed, and the matter was transferred to the Office of Administrative Law as a contested case. An ALJ conducted a hearing in December 2021.
• The ALJ issued an initial decision, making findings, including: Ekladious testified credibly regarding his own academy performance; the corroborating witness, fellow recruit Ciccarelli, was credible; and that Ekladious was treated improperly by the academy instructors. The ALJ also found that “the criticism [of Ekladious] came primarily from the only person holding the stopwatch.”
• Overall, the ALJ found the testimony of Ciccarelli and Ekladious “more credible” than the testimony of the city witnesses. The ALJ concluded that the city “failed to prove, by a preponderance of the credible evidence, that [Ekladious] failed academy’s physical assessments,” and dismissed the charges.
• The Commission issued an FAD [Final Administrative Decision] adopting the initial decision. The Commission reinstated Ekladious’ employment, ordered that he be re-enrolled at the next available firefighter class at a different academy, and granted him back pay, benefits, and seniority.
• The city appealed.
• The burden is on the appealing party to demonstrate grounds for reversal.
• Using the arbitrary and capricious standard, our scope of review is guided by three inquiries: (1) whether the agency’s decision conforms with relevant law; (2) whether the decision is supported by substantial credible evidence in the record; and (3) whether in applying the law to the facts, the agency clearly erred in reaching a result that was either arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable.
• When an agency decision satisfies these criteria, we accord substantial deference to the agency’s fact-findings and legal conclusions, being mindful of the agency’s “expertise and superior knowledge of a particular field.”
• Here, Jersey City fired Ekladious based on the Morris County Fire Academy’s failure to pass him on its physical assessment.
• Ekladious’s performance was a disputed material fact that was resolved by conflicting testimony.
• The Commission resolved the parties’ factual dispute about Ekladious’ test performances when it found Ekladious and Ciccarelli more credible than the academy instructors.
• We defer to the Commission’s credibility findings.

Here is a copy of the decision.