Grubb v. Tennessee Civil Service Com'n, 86-203-II
| Decision Date | 23 January 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 86-203-II,86-203-II |
| Citation | 731 S.W.2d 919 |
| Parties | Mary C. GRUBB, Petitioner-Appellant, v. TENNESSEE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, et al., Respondents-Appellees. 731 S.W.2d 919 |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Appeals |
Steven C. Grubb, Memphis, for petitioner-appellant.
W.J. Michael Cody, Atty. Gen., Mary Kendall Kallaher, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondents-appellees.
Petitioner, Mary C. Grubb, appeals from the judgment of the chancery court affirming the decision of the Civil Service Commission relating to her resignation and sick leave.
Ms. Grubb was an employee of Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) from December 6, 1976, until January 6, 1984. She served as county director of Haywood County Department of Human Services from April 1, 1978, until July 16, 1983, when she was transferred to Hardeman County and demoted to Junior Eligibility Counselor. This demotion ostensibly occurred because of recurring conflicts between Ms. Grubb and her immediate supervisor, although she had not had any such trouble with any of her previous supervisors. In August, 1983, because of depression and on recommendation of her family doctor, she obtained one week of sick leave. Based on the doctor's recommendation she was granted additional sick leave which ended on October 27, 1983, when her psychiatrist, Dr. Katz, released her to return to work as of that date. She did return to work on November 2, 1983, but at that time she requested that her sick leave continue through the balance of November. She left work on November 2, 1983, without first obtaining the leave approval requested. Dr. Alan Battle, a clinical psychologist, recommended that she be granted sick leave through the first week of December, although the psychiatrist, Dr. Katz, had released her to return to work on October 27th. The Commissioner of Human Services advised Ms. Grubb that her request for the additional sick leave had been denied and that she had been on an approved leave without pay as of November 2, 1983, until she returned to work on November 10, 1983.
On December 3, 1983, Ms. Grubb wrote letters to the county director of her department in Hardeman County and the Commissioner of Human Services and requested that she be relieved immediately from her position as Junior Eligibility Counselor and be placed on annual leave with pay. Her leave was approved through January 3, 1984, until a decision could be reached by the Tennessee Department of Human Services. Ms. Grubb was notified on January 3, 1984, that she was denied additional leave, and she was informed that if she failed to return to work within two days she would be considered to have resigned. She failed to return to work and on January 6, 1984, the Commissioner sent Ms. Grubb a letter advising her that since she had failed to report to work for two consecutive days after expiration of authorized leave in violation of personnel rules, she would be considered as having resigned her job not in good standing.
Ms. Grubb filed four separate grievances against TDHS, and pursuant to T.C.A. Sec. 4-5-301(a)(2) the civil service case was first heard by an administrative law judge. The administrative law judge in the initial order resolved grievances 1, 2, and 4 in favor of Ms. Grubb and grievance 3 in favor of TDHS. Pursuant to T.C.A. Sec. 4-5-315 both parties duly appealed to the Civil Service Commission. After its review, the Commission affirmed the initial order in favor of Ms. Grubb as to grievances 1 and 2, and this appeal does not involve these two grievances. The Commission affirmed the initial order in favor of TDHS as to grievance 3 involving the sick leave controversy and reversed the order in favor of Ms. Grubb as to grievance 4, the resignation question. On petition for judicial review in the chancery court pursuant to T.C.A. Sec. 4-5-322, the chancellor affirmed the Civil Service Commission which resulted in this appeal.
The chancellor, after making the required record review, pursuant to T.C.A. Sec. 4-5-322(j) filed an excellent memorandum setting forth the findings of fact and conclusions of law which we quote in toto:
This case concerns the decision of the Tennessee Civil Service Commission to uphold the petitioner's resignation of her job not in good standing and the decision that the petitioner was on unapproved leave without pay from November 2 through November 10, 1983. Review by this Court is pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act (UAPA). T.C.A. Sec. 4-5-322.
The petitioner was an employee of the Tennessee Department of Human Services from December 6, 1976 until January 6, 1984. She served as the County Director of the Haywood County Department of Human Services from April 1, 1978 until July 16, 1983 when she was demoted to Junior Eligibility Counselor in Hardeman County.
On recommendation of her family doctor in August, 1983, the petitioner obtained one week of sick leave due to depression. Based on his and other doctors' recommendations, she was granted additional sick leave which ended on October 27, 1983. Dr. Gilbert Katz, a psychiatrist who was treating the petitioner, released her to return to work on this date.
The petitioner returned to work; however, on November 2, 1983, she requested sick leave through the rest of November, 1983. Without getting leave approval, the petitioner left her job on November 2. That same day, she was examined for the first time by Dr. Allen Battle, a clinical psychologist, who recommended by letter to the department that the petitioner be granted sick leave through the first week of December. The petitioner did not return to work until she received a letter from the Commissioner of the Department of Human Services advising her that her leave request had been denied and that she was on unapproved leave without pay starting November 2, 1983 continuing through November 10, the day the petitioner returned to work.
On December 29, 1983, the petitioner wrote letters to the County Director in Hardeman County and the Commissioner requesting that she be relieved immediately from her position as Junior Eligibility Counselor and be placed on annual leave with pay. Her leave was approved through January 3, 1984, until a decision in the matter could be reached. The petitioner was advised on January 3 that additional leave was denied. However she failed to report to work on January 4, 1984. On January 6, the Commissioner sent a letter to the petitioner advising her of her separation from employment for failure to report to work two consecutive days after the expiration of authorized leave and that she would be considered as having resigned her job not in good standing.
The petitioner...
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