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

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE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
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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
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