Dover cop not entitled to seniority, Civil Service rules

Reversing a decision it made in 2012, the state Civil Service Commission has ruled that the town of Dover did not have special reasons, as it claimed, to let a police officer who resigned be rehired 16 months later with no loss of seniority credit.

At the same time an attorney for Dover was seeking approval in July 2012 from the Commission to relax its rules so that Justin Gabrys could be rehired with no loss in seniority and promotional eligibility, the board of aldermen in July 2012 introduced an ordinance to allow the hiring of a civilian public safety director.

The town represented to the Civil Service Commission that there were superior-level vacancies in the police department and Gabrys was a good candidate for sergeant. But, at the same time at a public meeting in July 2012, Mayor James Dodd stated that two police lieutenant positions and one captain’s position were being eliminated through attrition and the savings would pay for the public safety director.

Though the Commission’s March 9 decision did not address the public safety director job, it specifically noted there were no superior officer level vacancies at the time the town claimed there were.

Gabrys, who is paid about $107,300 by Dover, remains a town officer in good standing. He initially was employed by Dover as an officer from Jan. 16, 2001 through June 26, 2011. He resigned to take a non-Civil Service job with the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and then expressed interest in returning to Dover. On July 18, 2012, the town filed a request with the commission to relax its rule regarding the “re-employment and promotional eligibility” of Gabrys.

Based upon information it had from the town at the time, the Commission in September 2012 approved the request and Gabrys rejoined the force in October 2012, with an expectation that he would be treated as though he had no break in service in Dover and could be considered for promotion to sergeant.

Arguing that the special treatment given to Gabrys was unfair to officers who never left the department and might also be interested in promotional opportunities, the Dover Police Benevolent Association Local 107 appealed the Commission’s action. This past December, a state appeals court reversed the commission’s action and remanded the terms of Gabrys’ rehiring back to the Commission which reversed its 2012 decision. The appellate court found that the PBA had not received an opportunity to argue to the Commission in 2012.

The March 9 decision indicated that Dover did not accurately represent the circumstances of the police department in its 2012 request to have Civil Service regulations relaxed for Gabrys.

Attorneys for the PBA and the town have not returned requests for comment made Monday. Mayor James Dodd, town Administrator Don Travisano and Gabrys -- who relied on the Commission’s 2012 ruling when he left the Prosecutor’s Office -- could not immediately be reached.

The decision said: “In its initial request to the Commission, the appointing authority (the town) indicated that several officers retired from the police department leaving several senior level positions vacant that needed to be filled and that it would benefit from Gabrys’ expertise if he were permitted to return.”

“Essentially, the appointing authority represented that it would not have a sufficient pool of eligibles to fill its senior level supervisory law enforcement positions,” the decision said.

Upon appeal, however, the Commission has learned through the PBA that superior positions were eliminated, despite the town’s initial representation, the decision said. The Commission also learned that 15 officers in the department are eligible for promotion to sergeant, if a position becomes available.

“In other words, even absent the employment of Gabrys, it is now clear that a competitive situation would have existed due to the elimination of senior level positions and the complete eligible list for police sergeant. Although the appointing authority argues that the other experienced officers in the police department are not necessarily qualified to be superior officers, it cannot be ignored that the Commission would not have taken the action that it did had it been aware that there were a sufficient number of qualified eligibles for senior level positions,” the Commission’s order said.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@njpressmedia.com.