City of San Antonio v. Wallace, 13500
| Decision Date | 07 October 1959 |
| Docket Number | No. 13500,13500 |
| Citation | 330 S.W.2d 212 |
| Parties | CITY OF SAN ANTONIO et al., Appellants, v. Curtis WALLACE et al., Appellees. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Carlos C. Cadena, City Atty., Charles L. Smith, Asst. City Atty., San Antonio, for appellant.
Adrian A. Spears, San Antonio, for appellee.
This is a suit for writ of mandamus against the City of San Antonio and George W. Bichsel, Chief of Police, appellants, who will hereinafter be called the City, to compel reinstatement of Curtis Wallace, Alfred Estefan and Charles McKnight, appellees herein, to their former positions and classifications in the San Antonio Police Department as Custodial Workers. The suit is further for back salary from October 31, 1957.
The City and the appellees both presented motions for summary judgment according to their respective contentions. The trial court sustained appellees' motion and overruled the City's motion. Judgment was rendered accordingly. The parties are in agreement that there are no genuine issues of fact to be determined upon trial by jury.
The main question presented is the validity of the attempted discharge of these appellees by Ordinance No. 25668, adopted by the City Council on October 17, 1957. It is admitted that on October 17, 1957, the appellees were policemen within the terms of Article 1269m, Vernon's Ann.Civ.Stats., and entitled to the protection of said statute.
On September 26, 1957, the City entered into a contract with the Building Servicing Company for the performance of all custodial services for the Police Headquarters Building and Corporation Court Building, which contract has continued under a series of ordinances. Following that the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 25668, and paragraphs 1 and 2 of said Ordinance read as follows:
'1. The positions of Custodial Worker, being six in number, in the Administrative Pool, Personnel Department, are abolished. Any position classifications in the Police Civil Service which may have been, or in the future, may be held to have been created in the Police Department as a result of the existence of such positions are also abolished.
After the passage of Ordinance No. 25668, appellees were advised, by letters from Clyde C. McCollough, Jr., Personnel Director, and George W. Bichsel, Chief of Police, that since the positions of Custodial Worker in the Administrative Pool of the Personnel Department and Corporation Court, had been abolished by Ordinance No. 25668, each employee would be eliminated as an employee of the City of San Antonio, and that his name would be placed on a reinstatement list for Custodial Worker, in the order of seniority, upon written request. It is...
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City of San Antonio v. Wallace
...was granted ordering the reinstatement of respondents in the municipal service. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed. See City of San Antonio v. Wallace, 330 S.W.2d 212 which refers to City of San Antonio v. Kneupper, Tex.Civ.App., 330 S.W.2d 205, decided the same Each of the respondents hel......