Opinion ID: 1436237
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: APPLICATION OF SKELLY v. STATE PERSONNEL BD.

Text: Appellants base their claim to prediscipline rights upon Skelly v. State Personnel Bd., supra, 15 Cal.3d 194. In Skelly we held that before the employee therein involved could be terminated from his permanent civil service position with the State of California he was entitled to preremoval safeguards. After analyzing the opinion of the various justices in Arnett v. Kennedy (1973) 416 U.S. 134 [40 L.Ed.2d 15, 94 S.Ct. 1633], we concluded: It is clear that due process does not require the state to provide the employee with a full trial-type evidentiary hearing prior to the initial taking of punitive action. However, at least six justices on the high court agree that due process does mandate that the employee be accorded certain procedural rights before the discipline becomes effective. As a minimum, these preremoval safeguards must include notice of the proposed action, the reasons therefore, a copy of the charges and materials upon which the action is based, and the right to respond, either orally or in writing, to the authority initially imposing discipline. (15 Cal.3d at p. 215.) Both Skelly and Arnett involved discharges from employment of the employees therein involved. Skelly states at 15 Cal.3d 207-208: ... when a person has a legally enforceable right to receive a government benefit provided certain facts exist, this right constitutes a property interest protected by due process. ( Goldberg v. Kelly (1970) 397 U.S. 254, 261-262 [25 L.Ed.2d 287, 295-296; 90 S.Ct. 1011]; see Geneva Towers Tenants Org. v. Federated Mortgage Inv. (9th Cir.1974) 504 F.2d 483, 495-496 (Hufstedler, J. dissenting).) Applying these principles, the high court has held that a teacher establishing `the existence of rules and understandings, promulgated and fostered by state officials, that ... justify his legitimate claim of entitlement to continued employment absent sufficient cause,' has a property interest in such continued employment within the purview of the due process clause. ( Perry v. Sindermann (1972) 408 U.S. 593, 602-603 [33 L.Ed.2d 570, 580, 92 S.Ct. 2694]; see also Board of Regents v. Roth [1972] supra 408 U.S. at pp. 576-578 [33 L.Ed.2d at pp. 560-562].) And, in Arnett v. Kennedy, supra, 416 U.S. 134, six members of the court, relying upon the principles set forth in Roth, concluded that due process protected the statutory right of a nonprobationary federal civil service employee to continue in his position absent cause justifying his dismissal.... [Citation to various opinions in Arnett. ] The California Act endows state employees who attain permanent status with substantially identical property interest. Such employees may not be dismissed or subjected to other disciplinary measures unless facts exist constituting `cause' for such discipline.... In the absence of sufficient cause, the permanent employee has a statutory right to continued employment free of these punitive measures (§ 19500). This statutory right constitutes `a legitimate claim of entitlement' to a government benefit within the meaning of Roth. Therefore, the state must comply with procedural due process requirements before it may deprive its permanent employee of this property interest by punitive action. The question before us today is the extent to which the above principles apply to the short-term suspensions here involved. Prior to Skelly it was determined by our Court of Appeal that a two-day suspension pursuant to the charter provision not preceded by a hearing did not violate the employee's constitutional rights. ( Apostoli v. City etc., of San Francisco (1969) 268 Cal. App.2d 728 [74 Cal. Rptr. 435].) In Patton v. Board of Harbor Commissioners (1970) 13 Cal. App.3d 536, 541 [91 Cal. Rptr. 832], another pre- Skelly case, it was concluded ... The detriment to an employee of no more than 5 days' suspension in a 12-month period, while not negligible, is, in our view, not sufficient to justify a holding that a hearing is in the employee's constitutional right.... The employee is not deprived of a salary already earned, but merely of the opportunity to earn for several days. Respondent city and county, relying heavily on these cases, contends that the punitive actions involved in this matter are minor actions not requiring predisciplinary action procedures of the kind required by Skelly. With this position we agree. However, our conclusion that Skelly itself is not controlling cannot lead us to ignore the principles expressed in formulating the rule to be applied in the instant case. In agreeing with the respondent we do not mean to imply that a property right is not involved herein. We are of a contrary mind. (1) Suspension of a right or of a temporary right of enjoyment may amount to a taking for due process purposes ( Goss v. Lopez (1975) 419 U.S. 565, 572-76 [42 L.Ed.2d 725, 733-736, 95 S.Ct. 729]; Connolly Development, Inc. v. Superior Court (1976) 17 Cal.3d 803, 811 [132 Cal. Rptr. 477, 553 P.2d 637]). We have no hesitancy in holding that due process applies here; the question remains what process is due? ( Morrissey v. Brewer (1972) 408 U.S. 471, 481 [33 L.Ed.2d 484, 494, 92 S.Ct. 2593]; In re Bye (1974) 12 Cal.3d 96, 100-101 [115 Cal. Rptr. 382, 524 P.2d 854].) Skelly recognized that due process requirements are not so inflexible as to require an evidentiary trial at the preliminary stage in every situation involving the taking of property. The majority of the United States Supreme Court was characterized as adhering to the principle that some form of notice and hearing must preclude a final deprivation of property, yet the timing and content of the notice as well as the nature of the hearing will depend upon appropriate accommodation of the competing interests involved. (15 Cal.3d at p. 209.) We then said: ... In balancing such `competing interests involved' so as to determine whether a particular procedure permitting a taking of property without a prior hearing satisfies due process, the high court has taken into account a number of factors. Of significance among them are the following: whether predeprivation safeguards minimize the risk of error in the initial taking decision, whether the surrounding circumstances necessitate quick action, whether the postdeprivation hearing is sufficiently prompt, whether the interim loss incurred by the person affected is substantial, and whether such person will be entitled to adequate compensation in the event the deprivation of his property proves to have been wrongful.... (15 Cal.3d at p. 209; italics in original.) Subsequent to Arnett and Skelly the United States Supreme Court further acted in this area of the law. In Mathews v. Eldridge (1976) 424 U.S. 319 [47 L.Ed.2d 18, 96 S.Ct. 893] the court concluded that an evidentiary hearing is not required prior to terminating social security disability benefits. The court stated: ... `[d]ue process, unlike some legal rules, is not a technical conception with a fixed content unrelated to time, place and circumstances' Cafeteria Workers v. McElroy, 367 U.S 886, 895 (1961). `[D]ue process is flexible and calls for such procedural protections as the particular situation demands.' Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 481 (1972). Accordingly, resolution of the issue whether the administrative procedures provided here are constitutionally sufficient requires analysis of the governmental and private interests that are affected. Arnett v. Kennedy, supra, at 167-168 [40 L.Ed.2d 15, 94 S.Ct. 1633] (Powell, J. concurring in part); Goldberg v. Kelly, supra, at 263-266; Cafeteria Workers v. McElroy, supra, at 895. More precisely, our prior decisions indicate that identification of the specific dictates of due process generally requires consideration of three distinct factors: First, the private interest that will be affected by the official action; second, the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest through the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards; and finally, the Government's interest, including the function involved and the fiscal and administrative burdens that the additional or substitute procedural requirement would entail. See e.g., Goldberg v. Kelly, supra, at 263-271, (424 U.S. at pp. 334-335 [47 L.Ed.2d at p. 33]; italics added.) [3] (2) With the above principles stated we first explain our determination that pretermination procedures of the kind required by Skelly are not here required. In the case of suspensions of the magnitude involved here it would appear that while the risk of error may be just as great as in a termination case, the consequences are not. This fact tends to weigh against the need for predisciplinary procedures. Whether surrounding circumstances warrant the action taken here is not shown in the record. The promptness of the postdisciplinary hearing would be very important in a termination or long-term suspension. Obviously, the uncertain quality of an employee's status and other harm accruing to him is greater the longer the issues remain unresolved by hearing. In a short-term suspension the employee will usually be back at work while the postdisciplinary hearing remains pending. The shortness of the suspension tends to demonstrate that the interim loss should not be deemed substantial within the meaning of Skelly in the absence of special circumstances being indicated in any particular case. None are shown here. [4] A short suspension is not a destruction of the employee's employment but rather is an interruption. Usually in the event of a wrongful deprivation being shown the employee can be made whole by back wages for the period of wrongful suspension. We note in passing that historically the state has treated suspensions of 10 days or less as being somewhat minor with less procedural safeguards offered. (See Gov. Code, § 19576; Skelly, supra, 15 Cal.3d 194, 203, fn. 16; Keeler v. Superior Court (1956) 46 Cal.2d 596, 599 [297 P.2d 967].) We also note that, during the period pending hearing, the employee in the minor suspension case does not face the bleak prospect of being without a job and the need to seek other employment hindered by the charges against him. (See Skelly, supra, 15 Cal.3d 194, 213.) It is true that in Goss v. Lopez (1975) 419 U.S. 565 [42 L.Ed.2d 725, 95 S.Ct. 729], the United States Supreme Court held that certain public high school students who had been suspended from school for 10 days without a hearing had interests qualifying for the due process protection, and that such protection required that as a general rule [5] oral or written notice of charges and an opportunity to respond be afforded prior to removal. It also indicated, however, that total exclusion from the educational process for more than a trivial period and certainly if the suspension is for 10 days ( id., at p. 576 [42 L.Ed.2 at p. 736]) is a matter which could have serious and long-lasting repercussions in the life of a child, especially when such exclusion was the result of disciplinary action. [6] ( Id., at pp. 574-575 [42 L.Ed.2d at p. 735].) In any event, the court noted, the timing and content of the notice and the nature of the hearing will depend on appropriate accomodation of the competing interests involved. ( Id., at p. 579 [42 L.Ed.2d at p. 737].) Here, for reasons we have stated, we are of the view that the employee's interest in continued employment, viewed in the context of the shortness of the suspensions here involved and the city's competing interest in prompt action for the maintenance of discipline, does not demand an accommodation of the nature we required in Skelly. (Cf. Smith v. Organization of Foster Families (1977) 431 U.S. 816 [53 L.Ed.2d 14, 97 S.Ct. 2094, 2113].) In light of this determination we need not further explore the question of the retroactive application of Skelly and Barber to this case. (3) However, while the principles underlying Skelly do not here compel the granting of predisciplinary procedures there mentioned, it does not follow that the employees are totally without right to hearing. While due process does not guarantee to these appellants any Skelly -type predisciplinary hearing procedure, minimal concepts of fair play and justice embodied in the concept of due process require that there be a hearing, of the type hereinafter explained. [7] The interest to be protected, i.e., the right to continuous employment, is accorded due process protection. While appellants may not in fact have been deprived of a salary earned but only of the opportunity to earn it, they had the expectancy of earning it free from arbitrary administrative action. (Compare Patton v. Board of Harbor Commissioners, supra, 13 Cal. App.3d 536, 541.) This expectancy is entitled to some modicum of due process protection. ( Perry v. Sindermann, supra, 408 U.S. 593, 599-603 [33 L.Ed.2d 570, 578-581].) For the reason stated above, however, we believe that such protection will be adequately provided in circumstances such as these by procedure of the character outlined in Skelly, (i.e., one that will apprise the employee of the proposed action, the reasons therefor, provide for a copy of the charges including materials upon which the action is based, and the right to respond either orally or in writing, to the authority imposing the discipline) if provided either during the suspension or within a reasonable time thereafter. Such a procedure will, in our view, provide a meaningful hedge against erroneous action. Along with providing an opportunity to recover lost wages, it will also provide an opportunity for the employee to protect his reputation, honor and integrity  items of importance to him at any time but especially in case of later disciplinary action where the present action might be deemed to be in aggravation of the penalty then to be imposed, or in case of later promotional opportunities available but where the present disciplinary action would tend to have a harmful effect. (See Codd v. Velger (1977) 429 U.S. 624 [51 L.Ed.2d 92, 97 S.Ct. 882]; Board of Regents v. Roth (1971) 408 U.S. 564, 573 [33 L.Ed.2d 548, 558, 92 S.Ct. 2701].) Appellants Quinn, Pierce, Lottie, Tringali, Nash and Fowler allege denial of hearings and are entitled to a hearing as described herein. [8] Appellant Cross alleges simply a five-day suspension, and transfer of position without a prior hearing. Because as we have shown due process does not require for such employees a prior hearing in these short-term suspensions, Cross has not alleged any right to a prior hearing as such. However, it appears he is entitled to some type of hearing as should be accorded to Quinn, Pierce, Lottie, Tringali, Nash and Fowler. (4) It appears that appellant Jacqueline Robinson, an employee of the police department, had an opportunity for a postdisciplinary hearing. (S.F. Charter, § 8.343.) The complaint does not allege a demand for a hearing nor a denial of such demand. Thus, it does not appear that appellant Robinson has exhausted her administrative remedies, a prerequisite to seeking judicial relief. ( Fiscus v. Dept. of Alcoholic Bev. Control (1957) 155 Cal. App.2d 234 [317 P.2d 993]; cf. South Coast Regional Com. v. Gordon (1977) 18 Cal.3d 832 [135 Cal. Rptr. 781, 558 P.2d 867].) As to appellant Robinson the complaint thus shows no ground for judicial intervention.