6 years waiting to get back to work!!!!! Help!!!

[MRUSMARINE15]

i was fired from state employment june 2002 for bad urine. now before you say,"oh he did it good for him". please take a second, i was told by a superviser to perform sexual favors, i reported him and he was transferred to another site, the day after he left i was given a test, passed it no prob but thought to myself it was kind of odd as this guy and the internal affairs chief are good friends. sure enough a week later i was given another, now most JJc officers might get 1 in a year maybe 2 but not twice in two weeks, but anyways it is what it is! it took the administrative law judge 3 long years to say that i was innocent and to be returned to work w/ all back pay, not only did she believe i hadn't ingested marajuana but the numerous amount of errors they made on the transportation and storage of the sample was enoughj alone to give me my job back. I am a former Sgt in the USMC, graduated 1 in the academy, graduated 1, in Drill Instructer school, and maintained the highest evals on my shift, never had a drug charge before or after that incident, have never been arrested, am a proud father of twin girls who were born a week after i was wrongfully terminated. so anyway the judge gives me the decision, just to be overturned by 5 idiots that make up a merit system board, one of which is a used car salesman if u can believe it, they collectively went against the judges decision saying they didn't believe her and simpply reversed her decision, if thats not bad enough i'm presently still waiting for a date for the appelate court to hear my case and i hear that can take up to two years. i have written everyone i can from the governor to the attorney general they are all useless, can anyone give me an idea of how i can speed up this process i am a good man who loved the job i had and just want to get back !!!!! help me

[zelner]

What type of job did you have with the State?

[MRUSMARINE15]

I was a drill instructer at the juvenile boot camp in tabernacle, nj, employed w/ the juvenile justice commision!

[MRUSMARINE15]

why??

[zelner]

I wanted to know to see if you were a member of a Union. Were you in a Union?

[MRUSMARINE15]

if u can believe it, the PBA was worthless to me personally, never called to show any type of support, didn't get anything done at all, they lost all respect from me, u hear about how the PBA are so great but not when it came to my situation!!

[MRUSMARINE15]

WHAT A JOKE THEY WERE!!! THIS WAS THE JUDGES DECISION

I hereby DISMISS the charges against the Appellant, and ORDER that the Appellant be reinstated as a Senior Corrections Officer, with full benefits, back pay, and seniority as of October 1, 2002.




I hereby FILE my initial decision with the MERIT SYSTEM BOARD for consideration

[zelner]

I have a few question for you:

1. Did you have representation at the Administrative hearing?

2. Was the positive drug test the only charge against you?

3. How long was it between the Administrative decision and the Merit Board decision?

[MRUSMARINE15]

1. i was appointed a pba lawyer, and although i think the pba sucks, the lawyer that was appointed is excellent, so i was represented well.

2. the urine was the only charge i was ever given, and like i said the judge overturned that

3. the time between the judges decision and the merit system boards decision was close to a year, they kept extending before the day the decision from them was expected, so i had to deal w/ that headache too, u think they're about to give the decision and they would ask for a 45 day extension the day prior and it was always approved!!!

4. the msb gave they're reversal decision close to 2 years ago and now i'm waiting for a date to see the appelate division, as of today still no clue when that date is

5. like i said i never popped on urine before or after that one test, i have no drug charges what so ever, infact i have never been arrested or charged w/ anything and i'm 33 years old, this is a kick in the ass of a man who defended our country, served my state, served my community, just toi have it blow up in my face and no one can do a thing, its pathetic!!!

[Eagle]

Well, I don't think there is any way to speed up the process. You are dealing with government employees and they don't work very fast.

About your case though, if what you say is accurate, that there were numerous errors in the transportation and storage of the sample, then you may win the case. Look at this case http://www.edpdlaw.com/Lalama.htm

In this case there were minor errors in the collection & transport of the sample and the Appellate court brushed it aside and said it did not make a difference. However, your case may be different if there were major errors in the handling of the sample. The Appellate Court may reverse the MRS in this situation. Read the case carefully.

Also, did you lawyer mention that you could have sued the supervisor who requested sexual favors? You may have had a valid cause of action here and if lawsuits started flying back & forth the State may have settled with you by just dropping the whole dam thing. Now that it is six years later you may be barred from suing because of the statute of limitations.

Is a lawyer handling the appeal for you?

And you would think that the MRS would see that you were an ex-marine and would say "Ok, the guy put his life on the line for the country, lets take that in to consideration and rule in his favor". It would be nice to drop them off on a street corner in Bagdad - bet they would all of a sudden love the Marine corps.

[MRUSMARINE15]

Its nice to hear a little support and encouragement from time to time, after i lost my job, i'll tell you it was hard regrouping. At a young age i knew i wanted to be law enforcement, it wasn't something i just thought about it, it was something i dreamed of, and knowing this at a young age i figured the Marine Corps was the way to go since it was supposedly the toughest (ofcourse now i know it is). I was told at an interview by A lieutanant in JJC that if i ever wanted to be considered as a drill instructer at a juvenile bootcamp that i would have to graduate top of my class, suck it up for 1 year as a correction officer at Jamesburg, New Jersey training school for boys (GLADIATER SCHOOL IS WHAT EVERYONE CALLS IT SINCE THERE ARE 2 OFFICERS TO 52 JUVENILE INMATES IN AN OPEN DORM, MANY OF WHICH ARE GANG AFFILIATED), and than i could get it. I graduated top of my class, my life long dream was fulfilled, and than it all went down, i ofcourse told the lawyer about the Sgt's sexual advances on me, but he said he didnt want to go that route, there were so many flaws and discrepencies in the handling, transportation, log book, refrigeration, time table, mistakes on the paperwork that it would be a slam dunk, but obviously he wasn't thinking it would take this damn long. after i was fired i had no clue what to do, the only skills i had were what i was trained in and that career was stolen from me, i became a boat bottom painter for 10 bucks an hour (How degrading) supporting a family of four. its been a tough road, lost my family, credits shot, and recently lost my house we have to find a place by Oct 1 or who knows what will happen. i just keep the faith and hope the appelate division does what is right. Today my attorney sent a letter that on Oct 11 we have are date w/ destiny, at the Justice Complex in Trenton. i feel the same way, i defended this country, was promoted 4 times in three years as an 0311 infantry Marine, no record, active in community, visited schools during and after the Corps preaching drug awareness. The OAL judge believed me, but she saw me, the merit system board never once saw me, and they reversed the Judges decision, the appelate judge will be seeing me at 930 am Oct 11th and i hope he/she does make the right decision. thank you for the words eagle SEMPER FI!!!!!!!

[MRUSMARINE15]

THIS IS WHAT THE JUDGE SAID ON MY BEHALF BEFORE MSB CRUSHED HER

The ultimate question in a case such as the one before this court is whether the results of the drug test in question are reliable, as the results are the basis for the charged offense. The testing methods used by the Lab are not in question, but the methods used by the JJC's IA Unit in collecting and securing the samples, and in maintaining the chain of custody are in question; Crespo's failure to sign Appellant's chain of custody form, the laxity in record keeping, the fact that in certain respects, Crespo was an incredible witness. I view, Crespo's testimony with some trepidation because of certain behaviors he exhibited when testifying about the process. When questioned about the processing of petitioner's sample his face blushed and his body shifted and his shoulders dropped. This combined with the fact that the sample bottles can be easily substituted, and that the Appellant should have tested positive for or had a much higher concentration of Benzodiazepine in his urine due to the Xanax, but did not. All of these factors render sample 050254 very suspect.

I REST MY CASE!!!

[johnhogan]

Hey SCO from JJC, okay, if the appellate division fails you you have 10 days to file with the supreme court, and the fees are around $1,000 to start. I went through not the same, but similar in fight , the OAL decision means nothing, what matters is the appellate division decision. even if you win, do not think they won't file with the supreme court to reverse it. I just found this web site today and saw this post . I endedup going to the appellate division and my lawer showed up drunk. now I am stuck with a decision that contradicts a supreme court decision and every civil service law known. keep up the faith. if your lawer was fagella he is good. Yes I know i cannot spell, I'm a gaurd .