Court Opinion

ID: 9519105
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:09:01.175663+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:43:45.355883
License: Public Domain

SCHUMACHER, Judge
(dissenting)
I respectfully dissent. The majority is correct in stating that Shanahan v. District Mem’l Hosp., 495 N.W.2d 894 (Minn.App. 1993), and Seacrist v. City of Cottage Grove, 344 N.W.2d .889 (Minn.App.1984), set out the test for determining whether a resignation is voluntary under Minnesota law. I believe, however, that the lack of Minnesota precedent and the strength of federal precedent, as well as the policy of the Veterans Preference Act, require us to make an exception where a resignation is not of the veteran’s free will due to mental incompetence or post-traumatic stress disorder.
First, Shanahan and Seacrist state the general rule for resignations, but they interpret Minn.Stat. § 268.09, not the Veterans Preference Act. 495 N.W.2d at 896, 344 N.W.2d at 891. While section 268.09 does deal with resignations, it does not provide guidance for resignations that result from post-traumatic stress disorder. Minn. Stat § 268.09 (1998). We need not follow their precedent.
Second, while the majority correctly states that we are not bound by federal decisions, federal decisions are persuasive. Sonenstahl v. L.E.L.S., Inc., 372 N.W.2d 1, 4 (MinnApp. 1985). Shanahan and Seacrist, while also persuasive, are not appropriate precedent here. Indeed, Seharf v. Department of the Air Force, 710 F.2d 1572 (Fed.Cir.1983), and its predecessor, Manzi v. United States, 198
*863Ct.Cl. 489 (1972), are more directly on point and deal specifically with employees who were suffering from and resigned due to mental incompetence. See' Shrader v. United States, 38 Fed Cl. 788, 798 (1997) (“voluntariness is vitiated when * * * an employee fails to understand the situation due to mental incompetence”) (quoting Scharf, 710 F.2d at 1574 (citing Manzi, 198 Ct.Cl. at 492)).
Third, while the Veterans Preference Act does not discuss resignations, the policy behind the Act supports extending its notice and hearing requirements to a veteran who resigns due to mental incompetence or post-traumatic stress disorder. As the majority points out, the legislature intended that veterans enjoy security in their public employment. AFSCME Council 96 v. Arroiohead Reg’l Corrections Bd., 356 N.W.2d 295, 298 (Minn.1984). Furthermore, the Veterans Preference Act protects against the arbitrary abuse of authority. Garavalia v. City of Stillwater, 283 Minn. 335, 346, 168 N.W.2d 336, 344 (1969). We should interpret the Veterans Preference Act to ensure that veterans receive notice and a hearing when a resignation is involuntary as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition which often afflicts veterans as a result of combat service.
The ALJ determined that post-traumatic stress disorder directly caused relator’s resignation. He did not determine whether it was voluntary or involuntary. Accordingly, I would reverse and remand for a hearing to determine the voluntariness of relator’s resignation.