BRADD THOMPSON VS. BOARD OF TRUSTEES (POLICE AND FIREMEN'S RETIREMENT SYSTEM)

• Court: New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
• Decided: November 25, 2019
• Docket: A-2661-17T4
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-2661-17T4

BRADD THOMPSON,

Petitioner-Appellant,

v.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES, POLICE AND FIREMEN'S RETIREMENT SYSTEM,

Respondent-Respondent. ___________________________

Submitted September 16, 2019 – Decided November 25, 2019

Before Judges Sabatino, Sumners and Geiger.

On appeal from the Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen's Retirement System, Department of the Treasury, Docket No. 3-94744.

Malamut & Associates, LLC, attorneys for appellant (Christopher Patrick St. John, of counsel and on the brief).

Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, attorney for respondent (Melissa Dutton Schaffer, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Adam Blake Masef, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief). PER CURIAM

Petitioner Bradd Thompson became enrolled in the Police and Firemen's

Retirement System (PFRS) following his hiring as an investigator with the

Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders effective August 1, 2002.

Fifteen years later in August 2017, and after purchasing five years and two

months military service credit towards his PFRS membership, he applied for

twenty-year service retirement pension benefits (early service retirement

pension benefits) under N.J.S.A. 43:16A-5(3).

On January 9, 2018, the Board of Trustees (Board), PFRS, issued a final

agency decision, finding that because Thompson was not a member of PFRS on

January 18, 2000, the effective date of N.J.S.A. 43:16A-5(3), he did not qualify

for early service retirement pension benefits. See also N.J.A.C. 17:4-6.11.

Before us, Thompson contends:

POINT I N.J.S.A. 43:16A-5(3) DOES NOT REQUIRE, AS A PREREQUISITE, THE MEMBER TO BE ENROLLED PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE STATUTE (JANUARY 18, 2000).

POINT II THE PROVISION PROVIDING FOR A "20 AND OUT" SERVICE WILL PROTECT THE FINANCIAL INTEGRITY OF THE PENSION FUND.

A-2661-17T4 2 We incorporate by reference the legal analysis set forth in the consolidated

matters of Jason Fairchild v. Bd. of Trs., Police & Firemen's Ret. Sys., No. A-

1361-17 (App. Div. Nov. 25, 2019) and William McElrea v. Bd. of Trs., Police

& Firemen's Ret. Sys., No. A-4119-17 (App. Div. Nov. 25, 2019), in our

companion opinion rendered today, wherein we rejected similar arguments that

the Board misinterpreted N.J.S.A. 43:16A-5(3) in determining eligibility for

early service retirement pension benefits one must be a member of PFRS on

January 18, 2000, the statute's effective date. Because Thompson was not a

PERS member as of January 18, 2000, the Board's determination is consistent

with our recent decision in Tasca v. Bd. of Trs., Police & Firemen's Ret. Sys.,

458 N.J. Super. 47 (App. Div. 2019).

Affirmed.

A-2661-17T4 3