Court reverses fired cop's reinstatement, saves Montclair $270K in back pay

The officer was suspended after alleged domestic incidents.

Officer Joselito Nebiar was rightfully terminated, an appeals court found. File photo. (Jessica Mazzola | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
 

MONTCLAIR -- The firing of a former township police officer arrested in a domestic disturbance incident was upheld by a state appeals court, reversing an earlier decision that would have cost Montclair $270,000 in back pay.

In the decision released Monday, superior court judges ruled that Montclair rightfully fired Joselito Nebiar, who was suspended without pay in June of 2013 and fired in December of 2014. The decision effectively undoes one made in March that ordered the township to reinstate the former officer, and pay him $270,000 in missed wages.

"A number of the trial court's key factual findings in its de novo review are contradicted by the record," Judges Carmen Messano and Harry Carroll wrote in the decision of why they ruled to reverse the trial court's decision.

"The Borough's proofs were sufficient to prove (the) plaintiff's unfitness...and support the termination of his employment as a police officer."

Nebiar's firing stems from two alleged domestic incidents with his then live-in girlfriend, the decision says. Though Nebiar was not indicted in connection to charges filed against him in one of the incidents, Montclair police eventually fired him after a psychological evaluation found him unfit to serve as a police officer and carry a service weapon, it states.

A trial judge in March sided with another psychologist who testified on Nebiar's behalf and determined that he was fit for duty. However, Messano and Carroll found "significant factual and legal inaccuracies in the trial court's findings," the decision says.

"No doubt, this decision is a victory for the Montclair community and the efforts of Mayor (Robert) Jackson and the (town) council to ensure that its police force is composed of individuals that are fit for duty in the interest of the citizens that they serve," said Angelo Genova of Genova Burns, who represented the township in the case.

Nebiar could legally appeal the decision. An attorney who represented him did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his plans Monday.