Opinion ID: 591862
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Back Pay and Benefits

Text: 39 Because the district court found Turner had not been properly terminated until the City Council ordered his dismissal on February 6, 1990, the court awarded Turner lost wages and benefits from June 8, 1989, the date the City Manager attempted removal, to February 6, 1990. 40 Reno argues that because the City Council ratified the City Manager's attempted termination of Turner and made the termination retroactive to June 8, 1989, the district court's award to Turner amounts to unjustified windfall. Reno relies on Carey v. Piphus, 435 U.S. 247 (1978). That case, however, dealt with remedies for procedural due process violations; the case at hand involves remedies for a breach of contract. Nevada law provides for compensatory damages in the form of back pay for breach of a contract of employment. See, e.g., K Mart Corp. v. Ponsock, 732 P.2d 1364, 1368 (Nev.1987). 41 Reno also argues that Turner is not due any compensation because the City Council retroactively ratified the City Manager's wrongful termination of Turner. The cases it cites, however, are inapposite. They do not stand for the proposition that the ratification by a municipal government of an officer's unauthorized actions effectively eradicates an intervening claim for breach of contract. Turner was due wages until proper termination; the City Council's ratification of the City Manager's wrongful termination did not abrogate Turner's rights to the wages lost between June 8, 1989, and February 6, 1990. See Hennum v. City of Medina, 402 N.W.2d 327, 334 (N.D.1987).