Petrucelli v. Dept. of Civil Service

• Decision Date: 08 December 1953
• Docket Number: No. A--637,A--637
• Citation: 101 A.2d 363,28 N.J.Super. 572
• Parties: PETRUCELLI v. DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE et al.
• Court: New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division

Page 572

28 N.J.Super. 572

101 A.2d 363

PETRUCELLI v. DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE et al.

No. A--637.

Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division.

Argued Nov. 30, 1953.

Decided Dec. 8, 1953.

Paul N. Belmont, Newark, argued the cause for appellant (Van Riper & Belmont, Newark, attorneys; Stephen N. Maskaleris, Newark, on the brief).

John W. Griggs, Hackensack, argued the cause for respondents (Theodore D. Parsons, Atty. Gen.).

Before Judges JAYNE, FRANCIS and FREUND.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

JAYNE, S.J.A.D.

The present appeal implicates the legal propriety of an order made by Judge Brennan in the Law Division, Essex County, on June 11, 1953 dismissing, upon motion of the defendants, the alleged cause of action of the plaintiff.

Summarized, the factual allegations of the plaintiff's complaint are that on June 15, 1951 the plaintiff, a duly accredited plumbing inspector, was appointed to the position of Plumbing Inspector of the City of Orange and has since continued to occupy that position; that the Legislature by the enactment of chapter 333 of the Laws of 1951, N.J.S.A. 26:3--19.1, ordained that all such plumbing inspectors then (July 19, 1951) holding such positions and who were holding them on July 1, 1950, should be placed in the classified service of the Civil Service without examination. It is significantly informative to quote paragraph 4 of the complaint Verbatim et literatim:

'4. Defendants herein have failed and refused to add the Plaintiff's name to the classified civil service list as provided in the above Statute and have further notified Plaintiff of their intention to schedule and announce the holding of an open competitive examination for his position, although by the Laws of the State of New Jersey, no vacancy exists therein.'

Mandatory relief was sought compelling the defendants to record the plaintiff in the classified service which, in consequential effect, would render improper the conduct of any examination for the position in the City of Orange. Manifestly the action is designed in modern substitution for the pre-existent style of a proceeding in Mandamus.

In dismissing the action in the Law Division, the judge resolved that the plaintiff had mistaken the appropriate procedure to attain the desired remedy in that he had ignored Rule 3:81--8; R.R. 4:88--8.

The provision in Rule 3:81--8 of fundamental pertinency is that 'Review of the final decision or action of any State Administrative Agency shall be by appeal to the Appellate Division.'

In Halloran v. Haffner, 25 N.J.Super. 241, 247, 95 A.2d 921, 924 (App.Div.1953) it was stated:

'We are satisfied that Rule 3:81--8 was intended to provide an appeal, as...