Appeal of Department of Safety, Div. of State Police
| Decision Date | 06 May 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 82-217,82-217 |
| Parties | Appeal of DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY, DIVISION OF STATE POLICE (New Hampshire Personnel Commission). |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
Gregory H. Smith, Atty. Gen. (Betsy S. Westgate, Asst. Atty. Gen., on brief and orally), for the State.
Sulloway, Hollis & Soden, Concord (Stephen M. Duprey, orally and on brief, and James E. Owers, Concord, on brief), for Jay F. DeWolfe.
In this appeal pursuant to RSA chapter 541, the New Hampshire Department of Safety, Division of State Police (the department) challenges a ruling by the New Hampshire Personnel Commission (commission) reinstating a State police employee. The employee had tendered his resignation to the department, but later sought to withdraw it. When the department refused to allow the withdrawal, the employee appealed to the commission seeking reinstatement and other relief. The commission granted the employee's request and reinstated him. The department asserts that the commission was without jurisdiction to reinstate the employee because there was no dismissal, demotion, or suspension warranting employee appellate rights, as required by RSA 98:15. For the reasons set forth below, we hold that the manner in which the employee was separated from his employment with the State was tantamount to dismissal, and we affirm the commission's decision.
In an appeal pursuant to RSA chapter 541, the party seeking to set aside an administrative agency's decision must show that the decision was unlawful, unjust, or unreasonable. RSA 541:13; see Appeal of Kingswood Trust & Savings Bank, 123 N.H. 7, ---, 455 A.2d 1027, 1029 (1983). The commission's orders come to us with a presumption of lawfulness and reasonableness. RSA 541:13; see Legislative Utility Consumers' Council v. Public Utilities Comm'n, 118 N.H. 93, 99, 383 A.2d 89, 92 (1978).
The commission found, inter alia, that the employee's frame of mind at the time he prepared and submitted his resignation was such that the resignation could not be considered the product of a rational act, and that the resignation was not submitted with full knowledge of its consequences. Based on these findings, the commission ordered the employee to be reinstated and to be considered as having been on sick leave since the date of the voided resignation. The commission also ordered the department to formulate a rehabilitation program for the employee.
The facts supporting the commission's determination that the department's actions were the functional equivalent of dismissal may be briefly stated. On December 24 1981, after working a fifteen-hour shift the previous day and without adequate sleep, the employee removed, without purchasing, two automobile tires from a store in Bedford. A security officer observed the employee's actions and questioned him, at which time the employee "broke-down." An...
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