BERTHA BUENO VS. BOARD OF TRUSTEES, ET AL. A-1690-09T2
We determined that appellant was entitled to a service retirement allowance retroactive to the effective date she sought a disability retirement allowance because regulation in effect at the time of her initial application did not prohibit her from changing her application pursuant to N.J.A.C. 17:3- 6.3(a) to one for a service retirement allowance while her petition for certification following our affirmance of the denial of a disability retirement allowance was still pending. The Board's practice of limiting such a conversion to the thirty-day period following its denial of a disability retirement allowance constituted a rule under Metromedia, Inc. v. Director, Division of Taxation, 97 N.J. 33, 331-32 (1984), that was not promulgated in accordance with the specific rulemaking procedures of the Administrative Procedures Act, N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 to -15. 09-29-11
