Case Title: Odom v. City of Minden

Citation: 281 So. 2d 117

Docket Number: 

State: louisiana

Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Date: 1973-06-11T00:00:00Z

Document:
281 So. 2d 117 (1973) Troy S. ODOM v. CITY OF MINDEN. No. 52650. Supreme Court of Louisiana. June 11, 1973. Rehearing Denied August 20, 1973. *118 Henry G. Hobbs, Minden, for plaintiff-applicant. Peters & Ward, Hugh T. Ward, Shreveport, for defendant-respondent. SANDERS, Chief Justice. The Second Circuit Court of Appeal, relying upon Milam v. Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board of DeRidder, 253 La. 218, 217 So. 2d 377 (1968), dismissed the appeal by the City of Minden to the Twenty-Sixth Judicial District Court in this municipal civil service proceeding. The appeal was dismissed by the court for failure to include in the notice of appeal the allegation that the Municipal Civil Service Board had not acted "in good faith for cause." 263 So. 2d 410. We granted certiorari to re-examine Milam v. Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board of DeRidder, supra, and the procedural bases upon which it rests. 262 La. 1084, 266 So. 2d 218 (1972). We now hold that the appeal is legally sufficient. The operative facts are primarily procedural. On June 7, 1971, the City of Minden terminated the employment of Troy Odom, the City's only full-time fire inspector. The reason given for this action was that the size and economic structure of the community did not make a full-time inspector feasible. Odom appealed to the Minden Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board. The Board ordered reinstatement, reaching the conclusion that the termination of the one position in a one-position-classification was tantamount to the abolition of the classification, a step requiring public hearings. No such hearings were held in this case. The City appealed to the Twenty-Sixth Judicial District Court. That Court reversed the Board holding that the abolition of the position was not the abolition of the classification. Odom then appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeal, where, as we have noted, the court proceeding was dismissed because of the inadequacy of the notice of appeal. The notice of appeal from the Board to the Twenty-Sixth Judicial District Court reads as follows: "Minden, Louisiana, this 12th day of August, 1971." The Louisiana Constitution, Art. 14, § 15.1, para. 31, provides in part: These provisions are also found in LSA-R.S. 33:2501 and 33:2561. Based on this language, we stated in Milam v. Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board of DeRidder, supra: We now hold that the words "not in good faith for cause" are unnecessary for a valid notice of appeal. The constitutional language, we think, is directed to the scope of judicial review, rather than the content of the notice of appeal. To hold otherwise would impose more technicality in these administrative proceedings than in ordinary actions. We find no adequate basis for such a stringent requirement. As we held in Smith v. Board of Com'rs of Port of New Orleans, 262 La. 96, 262 So. 2d 383 (1972), the rule that appeals are favored in law also applies in civil service matters. It suffices if the notice of appeal contains a reasonably clear and concise statement of the action from which the appeal is taken. The notice given to the Board, in our opinion, contains such a statement. Hence, the court proceeding should be maintained. Insofar as Milam v. Municipal Fire & Police Civ. S. Bd. of DeRidder, supra, may conflict with this holding, it is overruled. For the reasons assigned, the judgment of the Second Circuit Court of Appeal is reversed and the case is remanded to that court for consideration of the merits. The assessment of costs is to await the final disposition of the case.