Article 78 petition to grant master electrician license without further hearing denied
Matter of Solomon v Department of Buildings of City of
Petitioner, Jeffrey Solomon, brought about an Article 78 petition for an order directing respondent to either grant petitioner’s application for a master electrician license without any further hearing and barring the Master Electrician Licensing Board (MELB) from investigating the quality of petitioner’s supervision by a master electrician and directing MELB to consider only petitioner’s character and fitness as an applicant.
Petitioner argued that MELB would be acting in excess of its jurisdiction by considering the sufficiency of his supervision by a master electrician for the requisite time period. The law does not preclude MELB from evaluating the sufficiency of the requisite supervision as long as that evaluation is not arbitrary, capricious, irrational or unlawful.
The Court also rejected petitioner’s argument that he is entitled to have his license application considered under the laws existing before certain modifications to the statutes in 2003. Applications are determined based on the law as it exists at the time of the decision, and the reasons supplied by the petitioner for relying on an outdated standard did not sway the Court’s decision.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court denied the petition.
