O'Connor v. Roberson

Supreme Court of New Jersey

O'Connor v. Roberson

8 A.2d 603, 123 N.J.L. 240, 1939 N.J. Sup. Ct. LEXIS 80

CourtSupreme Court of New Jersey

DecidedOctober 11, 1939

StatusPublished

Cited by1 cases

This text of 8 A.2d 603 (O'Connor v. Roberson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

O'Connor v. Roberson, 8 A.2d 603, 123 N.J.L. 240, 1939 N.J. Sup. Ct. LEXIS 80 (N.J. 1939).

Pincite

Opinion

Per Curiam.

This case is similar, except in one respect to be presently noticed, to the case of Dooley v. Roberson, of the present term, the decision in which is reported in 123 N. J. L. 51. As in that case, the prosecutor at the time of his discharge, which he claims to have been unlawful, was an exempt fireman and claims the benefits of chapter 385 of Pamph. L. 1938, cited in the Dooley case, if he was within the purview of that statute.

The argument on behalf of the defendant is substantially this: that the prosecutor held neither an office nor a position, but was a mere employe, and that such cases as Margerum v. Princeton, 120 N. J. L. 36, cited in the brief are controlling. Those cases, however, related to a statute which did not by its text include mere employments, but was confined to offices and positions. The distinction is pointed out in the oft cited case of Fredericks v. Board of Health, 82 N. J. L. 200; 82 Atl. Rep. 528. The body of the act of 1938, the relevant language of which is quoted in Dooley v. Roberson, supra, *241 does include employments as well as offices and positions, and in this respect differs from the previous legislation; but as lias been pointed out in the very recent case of Joyce v. Price, 123 N. J. L. 171, this inclusion is ineffective because of the failure to include employments in the title of the act. It follows, therefore, that while the case of the present prosecutor is within the body of the act of 1938, it is not within the title, and the body being ineffective with regard to employments for the reason already mentioned, the prosecutor was not entitled to have charges preferred against him and a hearing had thereon as a condition precedent to dismissal.

The writ of certiorari is therefore dismissed, but without costs, inasmuch as the language of the statute reasonably justified the application for the writ.

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Per Curiam.

This case is similar, except in one respect to be presently noticed, to the case of Dooley v. Roberson, of the present term, the decision in which is reported in 123 N. J. L. 51. As in that case, the prosecutor at the time of his discharge, which he claims to have been unlawful, was an exempt fireman and claims the benefits of chapter 385 of Pamph. L. 1938, cited in the Dooley case, if he was within the purview of that statute.

The argument on behalf of the defendant is substantially this: that the prosecutor held neither an office nor a position, but was a mere employe, and that such cases as Margerum v. Princeton, 120 N. J. L. 36, cited in the brief are controlling. Those cases, however, related to a statute which did not by its text include mere employments, but was confined to offices and positions. The distinction is pointed out in the oft cited case of Fredericks v. Board of Health, 82 N. J. L. 200; 82 Atl. Rep. 528. The body of the act of 1938, the relevant language of which is quoted in Dooley v. Roberson, supra, *241 does include employments as well as offices and positions, and in this respect differs from the previous legislation; but as lias been pointed out in the very recent case of Joyce v. Price, 123 N. J. L. 171, this inclusion is ineffective because of the failure to include employments in the title of the act. It follows, therefore, that while the case of the present prosecutor is within the body of the act of 1938, it is not within the title, and the body being ineffective with regard to employments for the reason already mentioned, the prosecutor was not entitled to have charges preferred against him and a hearing had thereon as a condition precedent to dismissal.

The writ of certiorari is therefore dismissed, but without costs, inasmuch as the language of the statute reasonably justified the application for the writ.

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Bluebook (online)

8 A.2d 603, 123 N.J.L. 240, 1939 N.J. Sup. Ct. LEXIS 80, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oconnor-v-roberson-nj-1939.

Opinion

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