Manhattan Appellate Court says NYC’s cellphone policy for civil service test is ‘irrational’

A Manhattan appellate court panned the city’s civil service testing rules on cellphones as “ambiguous” in a decision that overturned test disqualifications against three NYPD sergeants.

The officers were penalized in 2023 for using their cellphones after finishing a civil service promotional exam. The officers appealed the decision, arguing the rules were confusing, but a Manhattan Supreme Court judge dismissed their case.

On appeal, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, First Department, announced last week that the city’s rules were too “ambiguous” to be fairly enforced.

“Examination integrity is not fostered by ambiguous rules that leave candidates guessing as to the conduct expected of them, and reviewing courts straining to ascertain whether an administrative determination founded on an ambiguous rule is rational,” the panel of First Department judges wrote.

In March 2023, after three NYPD sergeants finished the promotional test but were instructed to remain in the testing room, where they took their cellphones out of the storage bags that test-takers are required to use during the test in order to check for messages from family members.

The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), the agency that runs the test, disqualified them and refused to score their exams.

DCAS cited a rule stating candidates cannot use or have phones out “before, during, and after” the test. The sergeants argued, first in an administrative appeal, then in state court, that the rule is ambiguous because it doesn’t clarify when, after the exam, a candidate is permitted to resume cellphone use. This was especially true, according to the lawsuit, because proctors had already allowed candidates to stand and chat, as the testing period was effectively over.

The court sided with the sergeants, finding that a rule banning phone use “before, during, and after” a test is nonsensical if it doesn’t define when that period ends. Taken literally, a candidate could never use their phone again, wrote the judges.

In response, the court vacated the city’s decision to disqualify the sergeants and sent the case back to the lower court to determine the next steps.

DCAS did not respond to an inquiry about whether it plans to amend its cellphone policy in light of the ruling by the publication deadline.