Court Opinion

ID: 9884082
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 02:35:12.740821+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:35.384549
License: Public Domain

NIERENGARTEN, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. As a result of an earlier conflict of interest problem that arose when a county employee ran for an elective county office, the county board of commissioners adopted rule 10.2(F) of the county personnel rules. Rule 10.2(F) was adopted, in part, to promote “a smooth and harmonious working relationship between elected officials and other employees within the department.” No one can assert that is not a reasonable basis for the Rule. To suggest that an election contest between a county employee and a county commissioner, the supervised and the supervisor, is not disharmonious per se to their relationship is to whistle in the wind. The trial court was absolutely correct in finding that when a county employee runs for the office of county commissioner an inherent conflict of interest arises and that rule 10.2(F) is reasonable. This may not be as apparent in the metropolitan area where county commissioner and county employee are somewhat detached, but in a smaller rural municipality, such as Blue Earth County, the inherent conflict is so obvious that a trial court would be remiss in not finding as it did here.
*253Assuming that Ziegler possessed a property interest in continued employment, (and one might note, here it is only a temporary leave of absence) she could not be deprived of this property right without some degree of due process. See Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, — U.S. -, -, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 1491, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985). Ziegler was not denied due process, however. After her employer placed her on an unrequested leave of absence, Ziegler elected to follow the grievance procedures outlined in the collective bargaining agreement. She had her grievance reviewed by an arbitrator and then by the trial court. I would affirm the decision of the trial court.