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Matter of LaBella v. Nassau Cty. Civil Serv

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Feb 11, 1991
170 A.D.2d 509 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

Opinion

February 11, 1991

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Goldstein, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.

The respondents Nassau County Civil Service Commission (hereinafter the Commission) and the County of Nassau (hereinafter the County) disqualified the petitioners from taking examinations for the positions of Recreation Leader I and II with the Nassau County Department of Recreation and Parks on the ground that their Recreation Aide experience did not satisfy the "experience in the conduct of recreational activities" requirement. The petitioners appealed their disqualification to the Commission and their appeals were denied. Thereafter, the petitioners commenced the instant proceeding to review the Commission's determination that they were ineligible to take the examinations. The court granted the petition and the Commission and County appealed. Contrary to the appellants' contentions, the court did not err in granting the petition.

"[A] decision of an administrative agency which neither adheres to its own prior precedent nor indicates its reasons for reaching a different result on essentially the same facts is arbitrary and capricious" (Matter of New York State Ct. Clerks Assn. v Himber, 75 N.Y.2d 460, 471; see, Matter of Pesek v Hitchcock, 156 A.D.2d 690). Here, the record indicates, and the Commission concedes, that the policy of the Commission for over a decade, was to consider Recreation Aide experience as satisfying the minimum qualifications for the Recreation Leader examinations. The Commission has neither adhered to its own precedent nor indicated its reason for reaching a different result. Although it now acknowledges its departure from precedent and describes the precedent as "error[s] in judgment by a Personnel Specialist", the Commission has failed to indicate any rationale for the change.

We find the appellants' remaining arguments to be without merit. Kunzeman, J.P., Kooper, Eiber and O'Brien, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Matter of LaBella v. Nassau Cty. Civil Serv

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Feb 11, 1991
170 A.D.2d 509 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
Case details for

Matter of LaBella v. Nassau Cty. Civil Serv

Case Details

Full title:In the Matter of VICTORIA LaBELLA et al., Respondents, v. NASSAU COUNTY…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Feb 11, 1991

Citations

170 A.D.2d 509 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
566 N.Y.S.2d 77