District Settles Matter Involving
Previously Disabled Teacher

The Manalapan-Englishtown Board of Education recently settled a case in which the state Supreme Court determined last May that the school district must reinstate a teacher who had retired nearly 20 years ago on a disability pension due to an alcohol-related condition. 

The Supreme Court ruled in Klumb v. Board of Education of Manalapan-Englishtown that the board should have rehired the teacher in 1999 when a job opened, since the Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund had determined that she was rehabilitated and able to perform. Although the teacher fared poorly against other candidates during her interview for the position, the court determined that the district was obligated by statute to reemploy her, and sent the case back to the Commissioner of Education to determine the amount of back pay owed her.

The commissioner approved the settlement, under which the board obtained a waiver from the teacher of any future reemployment rights, and reduced its exposure for six years’ back pay by nearly half, from a possible $440,000 to $240,000, minus taxes.

Under the Supreme Court’s interpretation of current pension law, a board must rehire a former employee who becomes rehabilitated years after taking disability retirement, regardless of how long the teacher has been away from the job or the circumstances under which the departure occurred. NJSBA believes that this undermines a board’s ability to hire the best staff. NJSBA is seeking an amendment to the pension law that would eliminate the possibility of a similar situation in the future.

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