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Candidate on military duty must be eligible and reachable for appointment for name to be placed on a special military list following discharge

Candidate on military duty must be eligible and reachable for appointment for name to be placed on a special military list following discharge

Matter of Woods v New York City Dept. of Citywide Admin. Servs., 2010 NY Slip Op 02863, Decided on April 8, 2010, Appellate Division, First Department

Section 243.7 of the State?s Military Law provides that ?Any person whose name is on any eligible list shall, while in military duty, retain his rights and status on such list. If the name of any such person is reached for certification* during his military duty, it shall be placed on a special eligible list in the order of his original standing, provided he makes request therefor following termination of his military duty and during the period of his eligibility on such list?.?

Robert Thomas Woods took and passed an open competitive civil service exam, exam No. 2043, to become a New York City firefighter. The notice of examination for exam provided that "By the date of appointment, you must have . . . 30 semester credits from an accredited college or university, or . . . two years of honorable full-time U.S. military service."

The New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services determined that neither on January 18, 2008, when Woods was reached for certification nor on January 21, 2008, when final appointments were made from the certified list of eligible candidates had Woods satisfied either of the alternative minimum requirements for appointment to the position.

Supreme Court denied Woods? petition challenging the Department of Citywide Administrative Services determination that he was not qualified to be placed on a "special eligible list" pursuant to Military Law § 243(7) and § 243(7-b). The Appellate Division, Judge Nardelli dissenting, affirmed the lower court?s ruling.

The Appellate Division said that in January 2008, Woods had approximately 20 months of the required 24 months of military service and no college credits. The list of names certified for appointment from exam No. 2043, which did not include Woods? expired on May 5, 2008. To be placed on a special eligible list, Military Law §243(7) requires that a person in military service be "reached for certification," which means that the candidate must be among those "eligibles from which selection for appointment may be made."

Woods, said the court, ?could not have been certified, not because he was in military service, but because he had failed at that time to meet the minimum eligibility requirements.? Accordingly, ?he was not qualified for placement on a special eligible list from which selection for the position of firefighter could be made.?

* Certification implies the candidate is otherwise reachable for appointment from the eligible list.

The decision is posted on the Internet at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2010/2010_02863.htm

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on April 13, 2010 (boomark / email).