Case Name: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN RESOURCES, Belle Chasse State School v. Johnny PAYTON
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1986-05-30
Citations: 498 So. 2d 181
Docket Number: No. CA 85 0280
Parties: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN RESOURCES, Belle Chasse State School v. Johnny PAYTON.
Judges: Before EDWARDS, LANIER and JOHN S. COVINGTON, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 498
Pages: 181–189

Head Matter:
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN RESOURCES, Belle Chasse State School v. Johnny PAYTON.
No. CA 85 0280.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.
May 30, 1986.
On Rehearing Oct. 28, 1986.
Steven R. Giglio, Staff Atty., Dept, of Health & Human Resources, Office of Gen. Counsel, Baton Rouge, for first appellant.
Mary E. Howell, Howell and Bayer, New Orleans, for second appellant.
Robert R. Boland, Jr., Civil Service Legal Counsel, Dept, of State Civil Service, Baton Rouge, for Herbert L. Sumrall.
Before EDWARDS, LANIER and JOHN S. COVINGTON, JJ.

Opinion:
JOHN S. COVINGTON, Judge.
Both the appointing authority and the former employee appealed the December 23, 1983 decision of the Louisiana Civil Service Commission, hereafter "Commission" which amended and affirmed the August 26, 1983 decision by the Appeals Referee to whom Payton's appeal was assigned "for hearing" by the Director of Civil Service, his appointment having been ratified by the Commission on February 2, 1982.
Johnny Payton, a full-time teacher in the public school system of Jefferson Parish, obtained a second full-time job, working after his school duties were concluded for the day, as a resident training aide (RTA) at Belle Chasse State School, a unit of the Louisiana Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR). He worked from September 24, 1980 until he was dismissed on January 9, 1981. At the time he was dismissed Payton had not served the six months probational period.
Payton timely appealed his dismissal to the Commission, asserting he was dismissed "due to discrimination against him on the basis of his protected activities under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Louisiana Constitution and as a union member and steward." The acts of alleged discrimination were stated with particularity in the remainder of the appeal letter prepared and signed by his attorney who is also his counsel in this court.
The Referee conducted evidentiary hearings on March 25 and September 27, 1982 and March 28, 1983; at the conclusion of the hearing on March 28, 1983 the Referee took the matter under advisement; the decision was rendered August 26, 1983.
In an extensive opinion Referee Pellegrin denied both DHHR's and Payton's request for summary disposition, articulated detailed "findings of fact" and "conclusions of law" and ordered Payton "reinstated to his position effective January 9, 1981 . [with] back pay from that date until he actually returns to duty, subject to an offset in favor of . [DHHR] for any wages earned since the date of termination." The order excluded from the offset "any wages earned by . [Payton] in his position as a full-time teacher with the Jefferson Parish School System." The order further directed that "all reference to the termination is to be removed from [Payton's] personnel records."
DHHR requested the Commission to set aside the decision of the Referee, alleging the 1982 amendment to Article 10, § 12(A) of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 authorizes or empowers referees to decide only those appeals lodged after the effective date of the amendment, October 15, 1982, and that the Commission's rules "implementing the Constitutional Amendment were not promulgated until after partial hearing was held." The Commission was asked to "set aside in its entirety" the Referee's decision and hold a de novo "full hearing of the appeal." Alternatively, DHHR requested the Commission to conduct a "review by the full Commission pursuant to [CSC] Rule 13.36," followed by an enumeration of alleged errors committed by the Referee.
Primarily, DHHR alleged, in its motion filed with the Commission, that the Referee erred, inter alia, (1) in concluding that Pay-ton had been the victim of discrimination and the reasons stated in the dismissal letter did not "occur as charged" and were not the real reasons for the dismissal, (2) in excluding from the offset portion of the order Payton's earnings as a teacher, (3) in misstating the standard of proof in discrimination cases.
In the Commissions' decision, issued December 23, 1983, styled "Opinion on Application for Review," the preamble states that:
"This matter comes before us on Application for Review filed by the appointing authority following the decision of the Referee granting the appeal and reinstating appellant to his position as a Resident Training Aide."
followed immediately by the terse statement that:
"We specifically adopt the statement of the appeal, the findings of fact, and the conclusions of law all as found in the opinion of the Referee filed on August 26, 1983."
However, the Commission modified the Referee's order only to the extent of "allow[ing] an offset in favor of the appointing authority against the amount that it must pay the appellant as back wages not only for any wages earned, by the appellant during the period of unemployment as a result of the action of the appointing authority that has been overturned, but also an offset for any unemployment compensation received during this period." The opinion concluded with the sentence "In all other respects, the Application for Review is denied."
DISMISSAL LETTER
The dismissal letter, signed by Gene I. Barrow, the facility administrator, stated the reasons for the appointing authority's action as follows:
Your inappropriate behavior to an immediate supervisor that is disruptive to the work environment is unacceptable by this agency as proper conduct of a Resident Training Aide at Belle Chasse State School. Specially, your disruptive and inappropriate reaction to Mrs. Lydia Stewart, RTS III at approximately 8:00 p.m. on December 20, 1980 in Unit D-2, when she questioned you concerning the length of time you were spending on the units (sic) telephone, cannot be accepted by this agency as proper conduct of a Resident Training Aide. Your harsh attitude expressed toward BOSS Resident #0814 at the time of the above-mentioned incident in Unit D-2 cannot be tolerated by this agency as one acceptable by any employee in your position of a Resident Training Aide who is responsible for the care and supervision of BOSS residents. Therefore, we find the disciplinary action to be both warranted and necessary and in the best interest of the agency.
(Parenthesis and emphasis supplied.)
ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR
FIRST APPELLANT, DHHR
DHHR assigns as error
1. The Commission's allowing the Referee to decide the appeal;
2. The Commission's allowing the Referee to decide the appeal on the basis of the evidence, testimonial and documentary, adduced at the hearings presided over by the Referee and/or its failure to review the Referee's decision;
3. Affirming the Referee's finding that Payton proved discrimination was the motive for his dismissal;
4. Affirming the Referee's holding that the reasons stated in DHHR's dismissal letter were not the real reasons for Pay-ton's dismissal;
5. The Commission's and/or Referee's applying unconstitutional rules of the commission and misapplying the civil service provisions of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974.
SECOND APPELLANT, PAYTON
Payton assigns as error
1. The Commission's allowance, as offset, unemployment benefits he received after his termination by DHHR;
2. The Commission's ambiguous statement which might be interpreted as allowing offset Payton's salary as a teacher in the Jefferson Parish School System.
ISSUES
1. Did the amendment to Article 10, Section 12(A) of the 1974 Constitution empower the referee to decide the appeal on the basis of discrimination or any other ground?
2. Were the referee's findings based on sufficient relevant and admissible evidence?
3. Are the Commission's rules implementing the 1982 amendment to Article 10, § 12(A) constitutional?
4. Did the referee misapply the civil service provisions of the 1974 Constitution?
5. Did the Commission properly allow as an offset the unemployment benefits received by Payton after his termination?
6. Did the Commission's modification of the referee's decision include an offset for salary paid Payton as a public school teacher?
REFEREE'S AUTHORITY TO DECIDE APPEAL
Article 10, § 12(A) of the 1974 Constitution, as amended effective October 15, 1982, dealing with the State Civil Service Commission, states, in pertinent part that:
"... [The Commission] may appoint a referee, . to take testimony, hear, and decide removal and disciplinary cases. The decision of a referee is subject to review by the commission on any question of law or fact ." (Emphasis added.)
Before the 1982 amendment Section 12 language concerning referees simply authorized the commission to "appoint a referee to take testimony with subpoena power and power to administer oaths to witnesses." The 1982 amendment completely rewrote Section 12, as shown, in part by the excerpt above.
Constitutional amendments are effective twenty days after the governor proclaims their adoption, unless the amendment provides otherwise. La. Const. of 1974, art. XIII, § 1(C). Such amendments are not retrospective unless they say so. Cf., State v. Mayer Sugar & Molasses Co., 204 La. 742, 16 So.2d 251 (1943). When the referee was initially appointed by the Commission, under the terms of La. Const. of 1974, art. 10, § 12, she only had the power to issue subpoenas, administer oaths and take testimony. The decision making power was exclusively in the Commission. This constitutional provision was amended effective October 15, 1982, to authorize the Commission to delegate the decision making power to the referee. DHHR asserts the Commission did not reappoint the referee after the effective date of the constitutional amendment. This assertion is supported by the record; thus, the power to decide the case was never delegated by the Commission to the referee. The initial appointment could not constitutionally delegate such power, and the amendment is not retrospective in application. Thus, the referee acted ultra vires when she decided the case, and her decision is null and void.
First, second and fifth assignments of error of first appellant, DHHR, have merit. Therefore we do not address DHHR's third and fourth assignments of error or second appellant Payton's assignments of error.
For the foregoing reasons this matter is remanded to the Louisiana Civil Service Commission for decision on the record made by the referee. Costs of this appeal in the amount of $50.00 are taxed against DHHR; all other costs to await disposition before the Commission pursuant to Civil Service Rule 13.26.
REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.