Opinion ID: 1890314
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Objectives and Powers of the Civil Service Commission

Text: The Louisiana Constitution establishes a city civil service that includes all persons holding offices and positions of trust or employment in the employ of each city having over four hundred thousand population. La. Const. Art. X, Part I, § 1(B). Civil service is designed to abrogate the `spoils system' under which public employees are not selected for employment and promotion on the basis of merit or qualifications for the position but as rewards for faithful political activity and service, so that the job holders and their families become economic slaves of a particular political organization and have to vote and work for the candidates of their faction regardless of the character or qualifications of the candidates. New Orleans Firefighters Ass'n v. Civil Service Comm'n, 422 So.2d 402, 410 (La.1982) ( Firefighters I ) (citing 3 C.E. Dunbar, Jr., Projet of a Constitution for State of Louisiana 500 (1954)). Because of the tumultuous history of civil service in Louisiana, [3] detailed provisions on civil service are included in our constitution so that the merit system can be repealed or amended only by a vote of the people, to protect against repeal or weakening amendments and sabotage by a temporary majority vote of a spoils-minded and partisan legislative faction. Id. Thus, the prime objectives and purposes of the constitutionally created civil service system are to ensure that non-policymaking, i.e., classified, city employees are (1) competitively selected on the basis of merit, free from political influence, and (2) protected from discriminatory dismissal or treatment for religious or political reasons. New Orleans Firefighters Ass'n Local 632 v. New Orleans, 590 So.2d 1172, 1175 (La.1991) ( Firefighters II ) (citing 3 Projet of a Constitution for the State of Louisiana, 504 (1954)). The Commission's rulemaking powers in that regard are provided in the Constitution as follows: Each commission is vested with broad and general rulemaking and subpoena powers for the administration and regulation of the classified service, including the power to adopt rules for regulating employment, promotion, demotion, suspension, reduction in pay, removal, certification, qualifications, political activities, employment conditions, compensation... to employees, and other personnel matters and transactions; to adopt a uniform ... classification plan; ... and generally to accomplish the objectives and purposes of the merit system of civil service as herein established. La. Const. Art. X, Part I, § 10(A)(1). Rules adopted by the Commission have the effect of law. Firefighters II, supra at 1175; Louisiana Civil Service League v. Forbes, 258 La. 390, 246 So.2d 800 (1971). Thus, a city civil service commission has the exclusive power to adopt rules regulating the classified service in the areas specifically enumerated in Section 10(A)(1), and the city governing authority cannot constitutionally infringe on the commission's exercise of this power. Firefighters II, supra at 1175. Moreover, the convention debates surrounding the adoption of Section 10(A)(1) indicated an intent that this provision should be construed liberally in favor of fulfilling the goals of civil service. Id. In 1988, pursuant to Art. X, § 10(A)(1), the Commission adopted Rule III, Sections 6.1 through 6.4, in force at the time the Agreement was entered into, which states, in pertinent part: 6.1 All contracts for personal and professional services, and amendments thereto, shall be reviewed and approved by the Director well in advance of their effective dates to insure compliance with the Civil Service Law and to determine whether such services should be provided within the classified service. Such contracts shall become effective only when approved by the Director. When so approved, they may thereafter continue for a period not to exceed one (1) year from the effective date of the contract. 6.2 Contracts for personal or professional services ... shall be approved only when such services require unique or specialized skills not presently required of positions in the classified service... 6.3 All contracts for personal or professional services ... first shall be transmitted to the Civil Service Department for initial consideration and review, and again for final approval after all other aspects of contractual review have been completed ... 6.4 The prior provisions of this Rule notwithstanding, if due to fiscal restraints or some other cause it becomes necessary to privatize either a traditional governmental function or one unique to the City which has been performed by classified employees, or to privatize an existing or newly established organization unit of city government which is or could be staffed by classified city employees, no action or decision toward this end by any agency of the City, State, or Parish of Orleans shall become binding and effective until approved by the City Civil Service Commission, subject to the following conditions: (a) Any contract for privatization of a governmental service shall contain a provision that thoroughly explains the effects of privatization on the status of current employees, as well as any specific contractual commitments entered into by the parties, which affect the interests of the displaced employees. (b) Any contract for privatization of a governmental service shall contain an additional provision which has the effect of prohibiting unlawful discriminatory treatment of employees. (c) Any contract for privatization of a governmental service shall contain an additional provision which affords regular employees an opportunity for a full and fair hearing prior to any disciplinary action. (d) Employees who choose to remain in the classified service of the City may request the City Civil Service Commission to invoke the application of Rule XII, Layoffs, in order to preserve their classified status. (e) Commission approval of a contract for privatization shall be effective only for the term of the contract actually reviewed. (f) A copy of the proposed contract, and such other evidence to be presented to the Commission to justify the necessity for privatization, shall be reviewed with the Commission at a public meeting. The Commission shall not approve the contract prior to a subsequent meeting, with due notice given to the public of the proposed provisions of the privatization contract. Due notice shall include individual notification to affected employees. [4] The court of appeal found that these rules are squarely within the constitutional authority granted to the Commission in that they relate to the selection, hiring, promotion, demotion, suspension, and removal of public employees. 826 So.2d at 30. The City and SMG argue that the court of appeal erred in holding that the Commission's privatization rules are within the scope of the Commission's constitutional authority.