In the Matter of Clifton Gauthier, Rockaway Tp., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). Clifton Gauthier, a Rockaway Township police officer, was suspended in January 2014, and later indicted, for allegedly “interfer[ing] with the prosecution of a family member, who was being prosecuted for driving while intoxicated.” He was diverted to the Pretrial Intervention Program (“PTI”), which he successfully completed in January 2017. He was reinstated in March 2017. Gauthier sought back pay for the years of his suspension. The final decision of the Civil Service Commission...

Miller v. State Operated School District of the City of Newark, ___ N.J. ___ (2019). Today, in a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court affirmed, by a 5-2 vote, the Appellate Division’s previously unpublished decision in this matter on the opinion below. That opinion, written by Judge Vernoia, was also approved for publication and appears at ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). Justices LaVecchia and Patterson were the dissenters. The issue, quoted in full here, was whether the defendant school district’s termination of plaintiff’s employment violated her tenure rights...

Minsavage v. Board of Trustees, Teachers’ Pension & Annuity Fund, ___ N.J. ___ (2019). This per curiam opinion addressed the question “whether a widow can modify the retirement application of her recently deceased husband, who was a member of the Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund (Pension Fund), even though his application was never approved because he selected a retirement option for which he was ultimately ineligible.” The Board had ruled against the widow (“Christine”), the plaintiff here, and the Appellate Division affirmed. The Supreme Court, however,...