IN THE MATTER OF BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS, FIRE
DISTRICT NO. 1, MONROE TOWNSHIP AND MONROE TOWNSHIP
PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS, LOCAL 3170
A-0765-14T2
Applying the dual motivation test in In re Township of
Bridgewater, 95 N.J. 235 (1984), PERC determined that anti-union
animus was a substantial or motivating factor for the Board's
termination of firefighters. It also rejected as pretextual the
Board's assertion that it fired the firefighters as a cost
saving measure.
We affirmed PERC's determinations and held that after it reinstates an aggrieved employee, a public employer retains its rights under the New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act, N.J.S.A. 34:13A-1 to -43, "to discharge a worker for a legitimate business reason, unrelated to the employee's union activities." Twp. of Bridgewater, supra, 95 N.J. at 237. The reinstatement of the employee, therefore, does not forever preclude the public employer from making legitimate and non- retaliatory employment decisions.
