Psychological bypass overturned

In one of the first Civil Service Commission decisions concerning a psychological bypass after the landmark Kaveleski decision by the Supreme Judicial Court, the Commission voted unanimously to grant the appeal of a candidate to the Boston Police Department who had been bypassed as a result of a psychological evaluation. The decision is notable for being unanimous, unlike many decisions regarding psychological bypasses before Kaveleski. The Commission faulted the evaluator for basing his findings on "subjective impressions on the candidate's past conduct that the BPD already knew about and found not to be disqualifying" (emphasis in original), a finding that may be critical when applied to future appeals. It is also notable that, although the Appellant retained an expert to offer competing opinion about his psychological fitness, the Commission did not mention the Appellant's expert in explaining its ruling, instead focusing on the deficiencies in the City's expert's opinion.