Alamond v. City of Shreveport

• Decision Date: 06 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 39,514-CA.,39,514-CA.
• Citation: 900 So.2d 277
• Parties: Connie ALAMOND, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CITY OF SHREVEPORT, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

900 So.2d 277

Connie ALAMOND, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CITY OF SHREVEPORT, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 39,514-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 6, 2005.

Tutt, Stroud & Bordelon by A.M. Stroud, III, Shreveport, for Appellant.

Wiener, Weiss & Madison by James R. Madison, Shreveport, for Appellees.

Before WILLIAMS, CARAWAY and MOORE, JJ.

CARAWAY, J.

Fire department minimum wages for personnel of certain municipalities are provided in La. R.S. 33:1992. In this case, the City of Shreveport's fire alarm dispatchers or communications officers challenged the city for its payment of their wages below the statutory minimum. The trial court agreed and granted plaintiffs' summary judgment. Based upon our review and interpretation of the disputed statutory provisions, we affirm the trial court's judgment.

Facts

The plaintiffs in this case are Fireman Communications Officers, 1 ("FCO1s") who seek adjustment to their level of pay against the City of Shreveport ("the City") according to state law. Within the City's fire department pay scheme, three positions which are relevant to this dispute are listed as follows: "Starting Pay," "Firefighter" and "FCO1." FCO1s are fireman communications officers or 911 dispatchers. The record indicates that FCO1s are trained communications officers and apparently graduates of the firemen's academy. Starting Pay employees are firemen trainees who are employed by the City during the 4-1/2-month academy training period required to become certified as Firefighters. The Firefighter category is therefore the first level of employment for the qualified new fireman.

Effective January 1, 2003, the City instituted a new pay schedule for fire department employees. Under the plan, Firefighters received an 18.5% raise ($28,848) while the Starting Pay ($24,348) and FCO1 employees ($30,444) received no increase in salary. Prior to that date, Starting Pay trainees and Firefighters received the same $24,348 annual salary and FCO1's received salaries of $30,444, approximately 25% higher than those employees. Under the new pay scheme, however, FCO1s' salaries remained 25% higher than Starting Pay employees but not Firefighters.

In April of 2001, the FCO1s had received an approximate 25% raise ($30,444) above Firefighters' pay ($24,348). Effective at the time, corresponding legislation occurred due to the efforts of the local firefighter's union amending La. R.S. 33:1992. The amendment made La. R.S. 33:1992 A(9) applicable to Shreveport FCO1s and required that FCO1s receive monthly minimum salaries of not less than twenty-five percent above that of a fireman.¹

On January 21, 2003, one of the plaintiffs, Bruce Willis, wrote to the Mayor of Shreveport complaining that the January 1, 2003 pay plan violated the provisions of La. R.S. 33:1992 A(9) because the FCO1s were no longer being paid 25% above Firefighters but rather 25% above Starting Pay employees who were not Firefighters. The Mayor responded to Willis informing him that the 2001 FCO1 raises were and remained based upon the starting salary of a firefighter, although not those who had who had graduated from the academy. When the increase in FCO1 salaries was not forthcoming, fifteen FCO1s² instituted suit against the City on November 25, 2003, seeking a declaratory judgment and entitlement to an annual salary of $36,060 (25% above the $28,848 salary of a Firefighter) effective January 1, 2003.

On March 16, 2004, the plaintiffs sought a summary judgment. In support of the motion, the plaintiffs attached the deposition of Shreveport Fire Chief, Kelvin Cochran, and a copy of the 2003 pay schedule. In his deposition, Chief Cochran explained that new firefighter recruits are required to go through 4-1/2 months of basic training. During the 4-1/2 months, the recruits are paid and they take academic courses and practical training. When the recruit finishes basic training, he or she takes a Firefighter I or II state certification test. The City of Shreveport Fire Department also administers a final exam. If the recruit does not pass that exam, they are terminated regardless of whether or not they pass the state certification test. Chief Cochran testified that basic trainees rarely engage in actual firefighting, although in some instances they are called out to assist in fires or other emergencies.

The City opposed the motion with an affidavit of Chief Cochran in which he stated that he considered "entry level employees who receive `Starting Pay' to be firefighters as defined under LSA-R.S. 33:1991...." In support of their motion, the City contended that basic trainees were indeed "beginning" firefighters who fell within the meaning of La. R.S. 33:1991's definition and that training was part of being a firefighter.

After considering the briefs and supporting and opposing documentation, the trial court granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment finding that no genuine issues of facts existed and that the plaintiffs were entitled to judgment as a matter of law. This appeal by the City ensued.

Discussion

The relevant statutory law necessary for a resolution of this matter is contained in Title 33 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. Specifically, the provisions of La. R.S. 33:1991 provide:

A. (1) The word "fireman" as used in this Subpart includes all persons employed or engaged full-time by municipalities or municipal fire departments, parishes or parish fire departments, or fire protection districts for firefighting or fire prevention duties and services, as well as employees of nonprofit corporations under contract with a fire protection district or other political subdivision to provide such services, including operators of the fire-alarm system when such members are of the regularly constituted fire department. The word "fireman" does not include carpenters, storekeepers, machinists, clerks, building hazard and similar inspectors, physicians, or other non-firefighting employees detailed for such special duties, nor does the word "fireman," except as otherwise provided in this Subsection, include employees of privately owned or operated firefighting or fire prevention services.

(2) A fireman shall be known as "apprentice fireman" for his first two years' active service. At the completion of two years' active service he shall be known as "first class fireman."

(3) "Engineer" means any fireman who drives, tillers, or otherwise chauffeurs any fire department apparatus.

B. The next three ranks and grades or classifications shall be:

(1) Lieutenant, where the municipality, parish or fire protection district deems the rank necessary;

(2) Captain;

(3) Assistant chief, battalion chief and district chief.

The provisions of La. R.S. 33:1992 with the 2001 amendment, Paragraph D, provide in pertinent part:

A. The minimum salaries of firemen in municipalities having a population of twelve thousand or more and of all parish and fire protection district paid firemen, including salaries payable out of the avails of any special tax provided by the Constitution of Louisiana for increasing the pay of firemen, shall be in accordance with the following schedule, and such salaries shall be paid semi-monthly not later than the fifth and twentieth day of each calendar month:

(1) A fireman shall receive a minimum monthly salary of four hundred dollars per month.

(2) Engineers shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than ten percent above that of a fireman.

(3) Lieutenants shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than fifteen percent above that of a fireman.

(4) Captains shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than twenty-five percent above that of a fireman.

(5) Battalion chiefs and district chiefs shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than forty percent above that of a fireman.

(6) Assistant chiefs and deputy chiefs shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than fifty percent above that of a fireman.

(7) A mechanic or assistant mechanic, or any other person doing this type of work for the fire department, shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than twenty-five percent above that of a fireman.

(8) A superintendent of fire alarm system, or any other person doing this type of work for the fire department, shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than forty percent above that of a fireman.

(9) A fire alarm operator or dispatcher, or any other person doing this type of work for the fire department, shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than twenty-five percent above that of a fireman.

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(11) For the city of Shreveport only, the provisions of R.S. 33:1992(9) shall apply only to present employees of the city of Shreveport Fire Department and shall not be applicable to any person employed by the city of Shreveport fire Department after September 1, 1986.

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D. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, Paragraph (A)(9) of this Section, as such Paragraph exists on April 1, 2001, shall apply to the fire...