Darling v. Kansas Water Office, 62249

• Decision Date: 26 May 1989
• Docket Number: No. 62249,62249
• Citation: 245 Kan. 45,774 P.2d 941
• Parties: David DARLING, et al., Appellees/Cross-Appellants, v. KANSAS WATER OFFICE, Appellant/Cross-Appellees. David DARLING, et al., Appellees/Cross-Appellants, v. Joseph F. HARKINS, et al., Appellants/Cross-Appellees.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Page 941

774 P.2d 941

245 Kan. 45

David DARLING, et al., Appellees/Cross-Appellants, v. KANSAS WATER OFFICE, Appellant/Cross-Appellees.

David DARLING, et al., Appellees/Cross-Appellants, v. Joseph F. HARKINS, et al., Appellants/Cross-Appellees.

No. 62249.

Supreme Court of Kansas.

May 26, 1989.

Syllabus by the Court

1. While the Kansas Legislature may elect not to confer a property interest in public employment through enactment of a civil service act, it may not constitutionally authorize the deprivation of such an interest, once conferred, without appropriate procedural safeguards.

2. Senate Bill No. 501 (L.1984, ch. 285), amending K.S.A.1983 Supp. 74-2614 and creating K.S.A. 74-2614a, which declassifies certain classified positions in the Kansas Water Office and terminates all employees occupying such positions, is examined and held to be unconstitutional as violative of said employees' procedural and substantive rights to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, all as is more fully set forth in the opinion.

David D. Plinsky, Asst. Atty. Gen., argued the cause, and Robert T. Stephan, Atty. Gen., was with him on the briefs for appellants/cross-appellees.

Patricia E. Riley, of Weathers & Riley, Topeka, argued the cause, and Wesley A. Weathers, of the same firm, was with her on the briefs for appellees/cross-appellants.

Linda J. Fund, Staff Atty., was on the brief amicus curiae for the Kansas Dept. of Admin.

McFARLAND, Justice:

Plaintiffs herein were classified employees of the Kansas Water Office (KWO). In 1984, the Kansas Legislature enacted Senate Bill No. 501 (L.1984, ch. 285), which changed plaintiffs' jobs from being in the classified service of the Kansas Civil Service Act, K.S.A. 75-2925 et seq., to being unclassified and directed their termination. Plaintiffs were terminated and appealed their terminations to the Civil Service Board, which held it had no jurisdiction as plaintiffs were no longer classified employees. Plaintiffs appealed the Board's action to the district court (Case No. 84-CV-876) and filed a separate action against Joseph F. Harkins, as Director of the Kansas Water Office, the State of Kansas, and the Kansas Water Office (Case No. 84-CV-1212). The district court consolidated the two actions. Summary judgment was granted in favor of plaintiffs with the court holding the statutes involved were unconstitutional (K.S.A. 74-2614 and 74-2614a) and directing that plaintiffs be reinstated with back pay. Defendants appeal from said determination and plaintiffs cross-appeal from the district court's denial of their request for attorney fees.

Some background information is necessary to understand the extraordinary action taken by the legislature herein. The KWO was under pressure to develop a state water plan. The former director of the KWO was asked to resign and defendant Harkins was appointed to the position in 1982. Harkins' primary responsibility was the preparation of the state water plan. As time passed and no water plan was produced, the pressure on Harkins increased. On January 24, 1984, Harkins appeared before a Senate committee. He advised the committee that having classified employees as the professional staff involved in the preparation of the plan limited his flexibility and hindered preparation of the water plan. In response thereto, Senate Bill No. 501 was enacted. Section 1 of the bill amended existing K.S.A.1983 Supp. 74-2614 as follows (changes are indicated by marked deletions and italics):

"K.S.A.1983 Supp. 74-2614 is hereby amended to read as follows: 74-2614. The director of the Kansas water office, with the consent of the governor, may appoint and fix the compensation of such employees as deemed necessary to carry out the powers, duties and functions of the Kansas water office and the director of the Kansas water office. All clerical and financial management employees shall be in the classified service of the Kansas civil service act and all other employees shall be in the unclassified service of the Kansas civil service act."

New Section 2 of the bill, later codified as K.S.A. 74-2614a, provides:

"(a) All positions of officers and employees of the Kansas water office in the classified service of the Kansas civil service act, except clerical and financial management positions, are hereby abolished 30 days after the effective date of this act and all officers and employees serving in such positions are terminated from state service on such date.

"(b) On the effective date of this act, the director of the Kansas water office shall give notice in writing to all officers and employees terminated from state service pursuant to subsection (a) specifying the date of their termination.

"(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the director of the Kansas water office from appointing any officer or employee terminated from state service pursuant to subsection (a) to any position in the unclassified service of the Kansas civil service act. Any such officer or employee shall retain all retirement benefits and all rights of civil service which had accrued to or vested in such officer or employee immediately prior to the date of such officer's or employee's termination pursuant to subsection (a).

"(d) Any person employed in an unclassified technical or professional position pursuant to K.S.A.1983 Supp. 74-2614, and amendments thereto, shall possess experience and educational training in and technical knowledge of hydrology, engineering, geology or water planning."

The bill became law on March 15, 1984. By letter dated March 15, 1984, the 17 KWO employees declassified by the bill, including plaintiffs herein, were notified by Director Harkins that they were terminated from state service effective April 14, 1984. Ten of the 17 were rehired into unclassified positions and retained their civil service rights as specified by K.S.A. 74-2614a. Plaintiffs Hess, Sheets, and Kostecki applied for and were denied new employment with the KWO in unclassified positions. Thus, all employees terminated by Senate Bill No. 501, except the six plaintiffs and one other person, were reappointed to unclassified positions at the KWO. In addition to the rehirings, KWO Director Harkins hired, by June 18, 1984, seven new employees into professional positions with the KWO. Thus, no new positions were created and none were deleted--the staff positions affected by the bill remained at 17.

As of March 15, 1984, plaintiffs' positions and work history with the KWO may be summarized as follows:

(1) David Darling had been employed by the State in classified service since 1968 and was employed by KWO as a Hydrologist IV.

(2) John Henderson had been employed by the State in classified service since 1970. He was employed by KWO as a Hydrologist V.

(3) Larry Hess had been employed by the State in classified service since 1970. He was employed in the KWO as a Hydrologist III.

(4) Donald Kostecki had been employed by the State in classified service since 1968. He was employed in the KWO as a Hydrologist IV.

(5) Clydeen Logan had been employed by the State in classified service since 1971. She was employed by KWO as an Engineering Technician II.

(6) Larry Sheets had been employed by the State in classified service since 1966. He was employed in the KWO as a Hydrologist III.

The case arises on a unique set of facts. A handful of employees in a specific state agency were singled out by the legislature to be stripped of their rights under the Kansas Civil Service Act and terminated. Any or all could be rehired by the agency with a grandfathering in of their prior rights under the Act. This action was taken as a convenience to the agency's director so that he could have greater flexibility in operating his office. No compelling need or emergency situation was given by anyone as a justification for the action. Harkins has indicated in his deposition that termination through the civil service procedure was difficult and time consuming, and that the statute was beneficial as it gave him the flexibility he desired.

The district court held that the 1984 amendment to K.S.A. 74-2614 and all of K.S.A. 74-2614a (codifications of Senate Bill No. 501) were constitutionally impermissible as being violative of plaintiffs' procedural and substantive due process rights and as a denial of equal protection.

Under the Kansas Civil Service Act, a permanent classified civil service employee is entitled to various procedural and substantive safeguards in the event of a dismissal, demotion, or suspension, including: (1) prior notice; (2) a written statement setting forth the reasons for the intended action; (3) an opportunity to respond in writing, in person, or both, to a representative of the appointing authority; (4) a responsive written decision by the appointing authority; and (5) the right to appeal from any adverse decision to the Civil Service Board for a full evidentiary hearing; and, thereafter, the right to an administrative appeal from any adverse decision to a state district court. See K.S.A.1988 Supp. 75-2949.

Defendants concede that a classified state employee has a property right in continued employment cognizable under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Defendants contend, however, that Senate Bill No. 501 lawfully terminated that right in plaintiffs, and, thus, the same was not in existence when plaintiffs were terminated.

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