Crawford County, Arkansas v. Jones

• Decision Date: 01 June 2005
• Docket Number: No. CA 04-469.,CA 04-469.
• Citation: 209 S.W.3d 381
• Parties: CRAWFORD COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Appellant v. Dottie JONES, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Court of Appeals

209 S.W.3d 381

CRAWFORD COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Appellant v. Dottie JONES, Appellee.

No. CA 04-469.

Court of Appeals of Arkansas, Division I.

June 1, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Bachelor & Newell, by: C. Burt Newell, Hot Springs National Park, AR, for appellant.

The Baker Law Firm, P.L.L.C., by: Rinda Baker, for appellee.

DAVID M. GLOVER, Judge.

This is a wrongful-termination case. Appellant Crawford County, Arkansas (County), appeals from a jury verdict in favor of appellee Dottie Jones for breach of contract. Jones cross-appeals from the trial court's granting of the County's motion for directed verdict on her claims of outrage and violation of the Arkansas Whistle-Blower Act, as well as the denial of her request for attorney's fees. We affirm on direct appeal; we affirm in part and reverse and remand in part on cross-appeal.

Background

In 1979, Jones went to work in the Crawford County Assessor's Office as an appraiser. In November 1999, the County hired Accurate Mapping Company to conduct reappraisals in accordance with Act 1185 of 1999. Accurate Mapping agreed to use appraisers from the assessor's office for the reappraisals, and Jones was assigned to work on the reappraisal under Accurate Mapping's supervision. On July 3, 2000, Accurate Mapping released Jones back to the assessor's office, due to alleged complaints against Jones. On that same day, the assessor, Dianna Faucher, terminated Jones based on the same complaints.

The County adopted an "Employee Policy Handbook" (handbook), effective July 11, 2000. This handbook replaced an earlier policy ordinance adopted in 1993 and later amended. The handbook provided, in pertinent part:

All County employees are permanent employees with a property right in their employment. Each County employee has a substantial expectancy of continued employment until the employee voluntarily resigns or "just cause" for reduction or removal of pay or position is proved by the County at a pre-deprivation hearing or a property interest hearing (a "grievance hearing") which will be provided if the affected employee requests a property right hearing in the time and manner required by this policy....

"Just cause" for the reduction or removal of pay or position was defined to include "any reason rationally related to the effectuation of a legitimate County objective." The handbook provided that an elected official or departmental supervisor may lay off an employee whenever it is necessary by reason of non-appropriation of funds or work, or by reason of a bona fide abolishment of or change in the duties of a position, or when the department is reorganized and the need for the position is eliminated. However, the handbook, in discussing layoffs, also provided as follows:

No employee with permanent employee status is to be separated by lay off while there are extra help, temporary, seasonal or probationary employees serving in the department in the same or equal or lower-level position for which regular-status employee or employees are qualified and available to reassignment.

In determining the order of lay off of employees with regular status, the elected official may consider, on a consistent and equitable basis, such factors as seniority (the length of a County employee's continuous service with the County since the last date of hire), work record, conduct and qualifications.

The supervisory official had the burden of proving "just cause" for the supervisory official's intended discipline or dismissal of the employee. In the event that an employee was involuntarily terminated for any reason, other than as a result of disciplinary action, attempts were to be made to give the affected employee at least two weeks' notice.

Jones pursued the handbook's grievance procedure and was reinstated effective August 1, 2000. Then, on August 2, 2000, Faucher notified Jones that she was being laid off effective August 4, 2000. Jones again attempted to utilize the grievance procedure, but her request for a hearing was denied on August 15, 2000.

Jones filed suit against the County and Faucher, individually and in her official capacity, alleging causes of action under the Arkansas Whistle-Blower Act, breach of contract/wrongful termination, and outrage. The County and Faucher denied the allegations of the complaint. Jones took a nonsuit as to Faucher prior to trial.

The Evidence

Sharon Partain, a Crawford County Justice of the Peace, testified concerning the adoption of the handbook. She also discussed the contract between the County and Accurate Mapping, stating that, under the contract, Accurate Mapping had the right to use County employees with Accurate Mapping reimbursing the County for the employees' salaries and benefits. She also noted that Accurate Mapping had the right to return the employees to the County if they did not work out, and there were provisions for such instances. As an example, she stated that employees were supposed to be given two weeks to rectify any problems and, if they had not rectified the problem, then they were to be returned to the County office. She also stated that Accurate Mapping could not terminate County employees. Partain stated that, at the grievance hearing, Faucher indicated that Accurate Mapping had returned Jones to the County, but she did not have a position for her. She also stated that, at the same grievance hearing, Faucher admitted that she did not follow proper procedures with regard to Jones. Partain also admitted that an elected official such as Faucher should be able to handle the day-to-day employment issues in his or her office unless there was something specifically contained in the handbook. She also expressed the opinion that, because of Jones's seniority, she should have been rehired by Faucher, and, if there was no slot available, someone with less seniority should have been laid off. She admitted that the handbook provided for layoffs and that the laid-off employee was not entitled to a hearing.

Partain testified that Jones discussed misdeeds in the assessor's office with her on at least one occasion. She was uncertain whether the conversation took place prior to the grievance hearing and later testified that the conversation took place on the night of the hearing. She also stated that she was aware that Jones had similar discussions with some of the other members of the quorum court.

Ronnie Dale, a former appraiser for the County, testified that Faucher told him that Jones had been terminated because Accurate Mapping had received complaints about Jones and did not want Jones working for them and that she had no position available for Jones. He also stated that after Jones's termination, Faucher asked him to sign a statement providing that, if Accurate Mapping released him or another County employee back to the County, the employee would be laid off because the assessor's office had no positions open. Dale also testified to instances when Faucher lowered appraisals on properties he had appraised, implying that the reductions were improper. He also stated that, shortly after Accurate Mapping started the reappraisal process, he spoke with Faucher about some problems and encouraged her to do something about Accurate Mapping's not performing its duties under the contract as it was supposed to do. Dale testified that, with the possible exception of a part-time slot in the personal-property section, he was not aware of any open positions in the assessor's office at the time Jones was laid off.

Patty Hill, the Crawford County Clerk, testified that in the year 2000 there was one part-time person employed in the assessor's office, who eventually became a full-time employee in April 2001. She stated that in the year 2001 there were four other part-time employees in the assessor's office. She also stated that there are no appraisers currently employed by the County.

Hubert Staggs testified that he spoke with Faucher after his tax bill had doubled following Jones's visit to reappraise his property. When Staggs discussed the matter with Faucher, he was told that he had been "Dottie-tized."

Connie Byerle, an abstractor and a data-entry person in the assessor's office, testified that she was hired as a part-time employee in July 1988 before becoming full-time in August 1999. She was not aware of any full-time positions available in the assessor's office in August 2000. She stated that she declined to become an appraiser in August 2000 because she would have become an employee of Accurate Mapping and not the County. She testified about examples of real property belonging to Faucher or her family not being assessed at full value. She testified that, shortly after Jones's reinstatement, she and other employees had a meeting during which they told Faucher that, if she created another position for Jones, the other employees were going to quit their jobs.

Lezlie Williamson, the project manager for Accurate Mapping, testified that the County's appraisers were not familiar with the requirements of Act 1185 of 1999. She also testified that she and others received complaints about Jones. At one point in her testimony, Williamson indicated that the complaints concerning Jones had been received in March while, at another point, she indicated that the complaints had been received during June. She testified that she had the impression that Faucher was trying to protect Jones's job by not promptly relaying complaints. She also testified that, after Jones received a reprimand about her performance from Carolyn Walker, the president of Accurate Mapping, her performance improved. However, she also testified that, when she told Walker about all the complaints, Walker decided to release Jones back to the County.

Williamson indicated that Don James was terminated because he was "windshield appraising." She was not aware if Jones was the person who disclosed this information to Faucher. She also admitted that "windshield appraising" was a...