Civil Service Com'n v. Poles
| Citation | 132 Pa.Cmwlth. 593,573 A.2d 1169 |
| Parties | CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, Appellant, v. Benjamin H. POLES, Appellee. |
| Decision Date | 20 April 1990 |
| Court | Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court |
Andrew L. Miller, Elkins Park, with him, Ralph J. Teti, Chief Deputy City Sol., for appellant.
Malcolm W. Berkowitz, J.D. & Associates, Philadelphia, for appellee.
Before DOYLE and McGINLEY, JJ., and BARBIERI, Senior Judge.
The Philadelphia Civil Service Commission (Commission) appeals from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (common pleas court) which reversed the Commission's decision and finding of just cause for the dismissal of Benjamin H. Poles (Poles).
Poles was employed by the City of Philadelphia (Philadelphia) as a correctional officer and worked at the Philadelphia Prison System's Detention Center (Detention Center) since May 23, 1983. On September 19, 1984, Poles was assigned to the Detention Center's B-Block for the 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. shift, along with Correctional Officer Harold Stith (Stith). B-Block is a top security section of the Detention Center where extreme security risk inmates are housed.
At approximately 10:10 p.m. Reginald Lewis (Lewis), an inmate, began to shout for help because the cell he was in was flooding. While Stith was in the bathroom, Poles, located in the control booth, pushed the button which opened Lewis' cell. Poles told Lewis to obtain a mop and bucket and clean up the water. While Lewis was mopping the floor, three prisoners returning from a prayer service appeared in the waiting area of B-Block seeking to be admitted. Poles admitted the three inmates thereby diverting his attention away from Lewis. When Poles turned around he noticed that Lewis was missing and sounded a general alarm by pushing a "panic button" in B-Block's control booth which alerted the Detention Center's central control office.
After repeatedly pushing the button Poles ordered the prisoners back into their cells for an immediate lock-up. The prisoners resisted. Two correction officers arrived and a fight broke out between the officers and the inmates. Shortly thereafter a team of 25 corrections officers arrived and quelled the disturbance. A head count taken after order was restored revealed that two prisoners, one of whom was Lewis, had escaped through a cell window from which the bars and glass had been removed.
On January 21, 1985, Poles was dismissed for a violation of General Order 1.3 of the Disciplinary Code of Philadelphia Prisons (Disciplinary Code) which provides that "[a]n employee shall be responsible for the efficient performance of assigned duties." Poles appealed to the Commission. The Commission conducted a hearing at which Captain Joseph T. Painter (Painter), the B-Block shift supervisor at the time of the incident, former warden Edward Jenkins (Jenkins), the warden at the time of the incident, Sergeant Kurt Osik (Osik), an officer who was on duty at the Detention Center's central control office during the incident, and Poles all testified. The Commission subsequently held that Poles' negligence resulted in the successful prison break and denied Poles' appeal from his dismissal.
Poles appealed from the Commission's order to the common pleas court. The common pleas court reversed the Commission, finding insufficient evidence to support the conclusion that Poles did not efficiently perform his duties. Consequently, the common pleas court found that there was not just cause for Poles' dismissal and ordered him reinstated with back pay. The Commission then appealed to this Court.
On appeal, the Commission contends that the common pleas court erred in concluding that the Commission's decision affirming Poles' dismissal was not supported by substantial evidence and that the common pleas court exceeded its scope of review by making findings of fact not made by the Commission. This Court's review of the actions of a municipal civil service commission is limited. Where a full and complete record is made of the proceedings before a municipal civil service commission a reviewing court must affirm the adjudication unless it is in violation of the constitutional rights of the appellant or not in accordance with law, the procedural provisions of the local agency law are violated or a finding of fact of the commission necessary to support its adjudication is not supported by substantial evidence. Section 754 of the Local Agency Law, 2 Pa.C.S. 754; Tegzes v. Township of Bristol, 504 Pa. 304, 472 A.2d 1386 (1984).
The Commission contends that the common pleas court erred in concluding that the...
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Johnson v. Lansdale Borough
...and the demeanor of the witnesses. The court may not substitute its judgment for that of the agency. ’ Civil [Serv. Comm'n ] v. Poles, 132 [Pa.Cmwlth.] 593, 573 A.2d 1169, 1172 (1990), petition for allowance of appeal dismissed, 530 Pa. 31, 606 A.2d 1169 (1992). Substantial evidence is ‘suc......
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