American Federation of State, County and Mun. Employees v. Civil Service Com'n of West Virginia

• Decision Date: 20 December 1984
• Docket Number: No. 16425,16425
• Citation: 324 S.E.2d 363,174 W.Va. 221
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, April Moyers, Doris Bias, Randa J. Watson, Rose Ann Vincent, Gail Fry, Elizabeth Kennedy, Sandra Perry, Patricia Weaver, Linda Seals, Rose Truex, Roberta Sue Boggs, Darlene Butcher, Betty Gill, Brenda Gilbert, Darlene Cremeans, Emma Crites, Kenda Weaver and Constance Dana v. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION OF WEST VIRGINIA and Department of Human Services of West Virginia.

Page 363

324 S.E.2d 363

174 W.Va. 221

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, April Moyers, Doris Bias, Randa J. Watson, Rose Ann Vincent, Gail Fry, Elizabeth Kennedy, Sandra Perry Patricia Weaver, Linda Seals, Rose Truex, Roberta Sue Boggs Darlene Butcher, Betty Gill, Brenda Gilbert, Darlene Cremeans, Emma Crites, Kenda Weaver and Constance Dana v. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION OF WEST VIRGINIA and Department of Human Services of West Virginia.

No. 16425.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Dec. 20, 1984.

Syllabus by the Court

1. "A final order of the Civil Service Commission, based upon findings not supported by the evidence, upon findings contrary to the evidence, or upon a mistake of law, will be reversed and set aside by this Court upon review." Syl., Guine v. Civil Service Commission, 149 W.Va. 461, 141 S.E.2d 364 (1965).

2. Where employees of the Department of Human Services of West Virginia were classified for purposes of civil service as Economic Service Worker I or II, and the work performed by those employees was not distinguished by the Department of Human Services from the work performed by an Economic Service Worker III (a higher salaried position), such employees were entitled to the difference in compensation between their Economic Service Worker I or II classifications and the Economic Service Worker III classification.

James M. Haviland, McIntyre, Haviland & Jordan, Charleston, for petitioners.

Gregory W. Bailey, Deputy Atty. Gen., Charleston, for respondent Civil Service.

Joanna Bowles, Asst. Atty. Gen., Charleston, for respondent Dept. of Human Services.

McHUGH, Chief Justice:

This action is before this Court upon a petition in which certain employees of the Department of Human Services of West Virginia ¹ seek relief concerning their employment classifications and salaries under the West Virginia Civil Service system. The petitioners, April Moyers, et al., are members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a labor organization. The Civil Service Commission of West Virginia and the Department of Human Services are the respondents. This Court has before it the petition (as amended), the response, all matters of record and the briefs and argument of counsel.

By order dated July 25, 1984, this Court directed the respondents to show cause why relief in mandamus should not be awarded against them. In September 1984, we refused a motion to dismiss the Civil Service Commission from this action. Subsequently, pursuant to an agreement of the parties, this Court dismissed all of the issues in this action, except for the issue of whether the petitioners are entitled to retroactive pay for work performed "out of classification" during the period in question.

For the reasons stated below, we hold that the petitioners are entitled to retroactive pay.

I

The Department of Human Services, a division of state government, employs approximately 2,400 persons. Most of those employees, including the petitioners, are covered by this State's civil service system.

As reflected in the record, employment with the Department of Human Services has been divided into several classifications for civil service purposes. Those classifications include Economic Service Worker I, II and III. The duties of Economic Service Workers include providing assistance to persons applying for benefits under such programs as Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Among the three classifications, Economic Service Worker III's receive the highest salary.

The petitioners, classified as Economic Service Worker I or II, filed with the Department of Human Services grievances which alleged that they had been working "out of classification," i.e., that the petitioners had been performing the duties of an Economic Service Worker III. The petitioners asserted that they were entitled to be classified as Economic Service Worker III, with the appropriate salary and retroactive pay. ²

As a result of the filing of numerous grievances, the Civil Service Commission in September 1983 ordered its Classification Division to study the Department of Human Services concerning the validity of the Department's employment classifications. That study revealed that Economic Service Workers I, II and III were performing essentially the same duties within the Department.

Accordingly, on June 1, 1984 (and effective July 1, 1984), the Civil Service Commission modified certain classifications of the Department of Human Services. That modification or "reclassification" included, inter alia, the elimination of the Economic Service Worker III classification ³ and the revision of the Economic Service Worker I and II classifications. Under the reclassification, Economic Service Workers I and II were differentiated by the "level of difficulty of the duties performed and responsibility assumed." Economic Service Worker II became the higher classification, and, as the record indicates, the duties of that classification included work concerning Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

The validity and fairness of the June 1, 1984, reclassification by the Civil Service Commission was challenged in this action. As indicated above, however, the parties have resolved their differences, except for the issue of retroactive pay.

The Civil Service Commission denied the petitioners retroactive pay ⁴ even though the Commission found that prior to the reclassification most petitioners had performed "the full range of economic service tasks including taking applications and determining eligibility for Aid to Families with Dependent Children...." The Civil Service Commission thus recognized the legitimacy of the petitioners' grievances but denied retroactive pay.

Contending that the denial of retroactive pay was improper, the petitioners assert that the Civil Service Commission ignored "the obvious reality that the lower classified employees in ESW I and II were receiving less pay than the higher classified employees in the classification ESW III, even though by the admission of all involved, they were performing the same work...." ⁵

II

This Court, in the syllabus of Guine v. Civil Service Commission, 149 W.Va. 461, 141 S.E.2d 364 (1965), recognized that "[a] final order of the Civil Service Commission, based upon findings not supported by the evidence, upon findings contrary to the evidence, or upon a mistake of law, will be reversed and set aside by this Court upon review." See also syl., Billings v. Civil Service Commission, 154 W.Va. 688, 178 S.E.2d 801 (1971).

The record in this action clearly demonstrates that prior to the June 1, 1984, reclassification of the Department of Human Services there was no distinction in reality among the duties performed by Economic Service Workers I, II and III. Some of those duties, however, were more difficult than others. For example, the processing by Economic Service Workers of the applications of claimants for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was more difficult than the processing of applications for the Transportation Remuneration Incentive Program (TRIP).

The Civil Service Commission specifically determined that the duties of the petitioners, prior to the reclassification, included the more difficult matters. As the Commission determined with respect to petitioners Bias, Moyers, Vincent and Watson: "This Commission determines that Doris Bias, ... April Moyers, Rose Ann Vincent and Randa J. Watson perform the full range of economic service tasks including taking applications and determining eligibility for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), food stamps, medical assistance and other economic services."

Although prior to the reclassification there was no significant distinction made in the Department of Human Services in the duties performed by Economic Service Workers I, II and III, the differences in difficulty of work served as a basis before and after the reclassification for the Civil Service Commission's classifications of Economic Service Workers.

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