Estelle Laba, Appellants-Cross-Respondents v. the Board of Education of Newark in the County of Essex…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the State Commissioner’s decision to remand the dismissal proceedings of three Newark teachers who invoked the Fifth Amendment before a House Un‑American Activities Committee, holding that the remand was within the Commissioner’s authority and that the Board may conduct a further fitness inquiry, but that invocation of the Fifth Amendment alone is not per se just cause for dismissal. Justice Weintraub’s concurrence, noted separately, contests the majority’s view that a contumacious Fifth‑Amendment claim can justify dismissal.