Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:66-36 (Section 36), a member of the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF) who has "completed [ten] years of service" and has "separated voluntarily or involuntarily from . . . service[] before reaching service retirement age" is eligible to receive deferred retirement benefits, provided the separation was "not by removal for conduct unbecoming a teacher or other just cause." N.J.S.A. 18A:6-7.1 permanently disqualifies teachers and other school employees who have been convicted of certain crimes from employment in all school systems under the supervision of the Department of Education.
Petitioner had accumulated eleven years of service credit when his teaching certificate was revoked by the State Board of Education based on a disqualifying criminal conviction under N.J.S.A. 18A:6-7.1. The conviction was the result of crimes he committed while employed at a mortgage company before he became a teacher and were unrelated to his position as a teacher. The TPAF Board denied the petitioner's application for deferred retirement benefits, reasoning his separation from membership in the pension plan was based upon a "removal for conduct unbecoming a teacher."
The court reversed, relying on In re Hess, where the court held that under the equivalent Public Employees' Retirement System statute forfeiture of deferred pension benefits was "conditioned on an involuntary removal due to misconduct related to employment." 422 N.J. Super. 27, 37 (App. Div. 2011). And, Masse v. Board of Trustees, Public Employees' Retirement System, where the Court distinguished between removal based on misconduct and forfeiture of pension rights "unrelated to [the employee's] service." 87 N.J. 252, 263 (1981).