Hasenyager v. Bd. of Police Com'rs of Kansas City

• Decision Date: 01 October 1980
• Docket Number: No. WD 30901.,WD 30901.
• Citation: 606 S.W.2d 468
• Parties: Edward L. HASENYAGER, Vernon D. Wilson, Fred G. Stephen, Lloyd DeGraffenried, William L. Clark, Charles F. Finlay, and Guy F. Hines, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS OF KANSAS CITY, Missouri, and City of Kansas City, Missouri, Defendants-Respondents.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

606 S.W.2d 468

Edward L. HASENYAGER, Vernon D. Wilson, Fred G. Stephen, Lloyd DeGraffenried, William L. Clark, Charles F. Finlay, and Guy F. Hines, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS OF KANSAS CITY, Missouri, and City of Kansas City, Missouri, Defendants-Respondents.

No. WD 30901.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

October 1, 1980.

Austin B. Speers, Kansas City, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Manfred Maier, Kansas City, for defendant-respondent Board of Police Commissioners.

Dan G. Jackson, Asst. City Counselor, Kansas City, for defendant-respondent City of Kansas City, Missouri.

Before KENNEDY, P. J., and PRITCHARD and SWOFFORD, JJ.

SWOFFORD, Judge.

Seven individual plaintiffs, former and current police officers, filed a class action naming both the City of Kansas City, Missouri, a constitutionally chartered municipal corporation, and the Board of Police Commissioners of Kansas City, Missouri, as defendants. The suit was first filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Western Division, No. 76CV588-W-3, but the cause was dismissed by that Court for lack of jurisdiction in February, 1978. The action was next filed in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri on July 13, 1978.

Plaintiffs alleged in their petition that, between the years of 1950 to 1971, they and the class they represented had accumulated 279,000 hours of overtime for which they were not compensated. Defendants filed separate motions to dismiss or in the alternative to make more definite and certain. In a single judgment said motions to dismiss were sustained as to the Defendant, Board of Police Commissioners, for the reason that plaintiffs' claim was barred by the statute of limitations; and as to Defendant, City of Kansas City, Missouri, for the reasons that plaintiffs' petition failed to state a claim against said defendant and the cause of action was barred by the statute of limitations. This appeal followed.

Plaintiffs, and the class they seeks to represent, pursuant to Section 507.070 RSMo (1978) and Rule 52.08, are all former, present or retired police officers of the City of Kansas City, Missouri. This action was brought in their own behalf and for those police officers of such class who claim that the defendants are indebted to them for overtime pay and/or equivalent compensated time off.

The plaintiffs alleged that they, and the class they seek to represent, accumulated at least 279,000 hours of overtime for which they were not compensated between the years of 1950 to 1971. They further alleged that defendants and their predecessors in office had, prior to July 13, 1976, made numerous oral promises, issued directives and general orders assuring plaintiffs that the accumulated overtime would be paid either in cash, time off prior to retirement, or salary continuance after retirement. Plaintiffs finally alleged that defendants, and their predecessors in office, falsely misled plaintiffs and the class they seek to represent and thus prevented plaintiffs from filing suit against defendants.

Plaintiffs made demand on defendant Police Board for the payment of unpaid overtime on July 13, 1976, and on July 15, 1976, said defendants denied the claim of plaintiffs stating there had not been any overtime accumulated since January, 1966, and no Board had ever authorized overtime pay prior to that time. (Plaintiffs' Documents V and VI). The trial court on September 21, 1978, sustained the motions to dismiss filed by defendants. Plaintiffs then filed a motion to set aside the Court's order dismissing plaintiffs' cause of action due to clerical error, and the trial court sustained plaintiffs' motion and reentered its order dismissing plaintiffs' cause of action on April 17, 1979.

The appellants advance three points of error on appeal:

I. The trial court erred in dismissing the plaintiffs' cause of action due to the running of the statute of limitations, because plaintiffs demanded payment for accumulated overtime from defendants on July 13, 1976; that such demand was refused on July 15, 1976; and, plaintiffs filed their class action for recovery on July 13, 1978.

II. The trial court erred in dismissing the plaintiffs' cause of action due to the running of the statute of limitations, because defendants' "fraudulent concealment" was shown which would operate to toll the statute.

III. The trial court erred in dismissing the cause of action as to defendant, Kansas City, Missouri, for failure to state a claim, because the City appropriates from its budget the monies used to operate the Police Department. Therefore, the City has a financial interest in the wages and costs of operating the Police Department and would also be liable to plaintiffs for accumulated overtime wages.

Appellants first contend that the court erred in dismissing this action for the reason that their claim was barred by the statute of limitations. The applicable statute relied upon to support this position is Section 516.140 RSMo (1978), which states as follows:

"516.140. What actions within two years.

Within two years: An action for libel, slander, assault, battery, false imprisonment or criminal conversation. An action by an employee for the payment of unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation or liquidated damages by reason of the nonpayment of minimum wages or overtime compensation, and for the recovery of any amount under and by virtue of the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and amendments thereto, said act being an act of Congress, shall be brought within two years after the cause accrued." (Emphasis supplied)

The record in this Court shows the following chronology of events pertinent to this decision:

1. July 13, 1976-The law firm now representing the appellants wrote a letter to the Chief of Police, the Mayor, and the President of the Board of Police Commissioners, as co-addressees, advising of their employment to press their clients' claims "for unpaid accumulated overtime pay", making "official demand" for payment, and advising that if no response was forthcoming within 14 days, that suit will be filed.

2. July 15, 1976-Letter from the President of the Board of Police Commissioners to counsel was written refusing demand.

3. February 6, 1978-Suit previously filed in Federal Court terminated by dismissal for lack of jurisdiction.

4. July 13, 1978-This action instituted.

The position of appellants is that the running of the statute of limitations on claims for earned but unpaid overtime compensation between 1950 and 1971 two years, Section 516.140 RSMo (1978) is tolled by operation of Section 516.280 RSMo (1978), which reads:

"516.280. Limitation not to be extended by improper acts of defendant.

If any person, by absconding or concealing himself, or by any other improper act, prevent the commencement of an action, such action may be commenced within the time herein limited, after the commencement of such action shall have ceased to be so prevented." (Emphasis supplied)

The argument is made that by reason of certain alleged promises, directives, and assurances by defendants and their predecessors, and the fact that the defendants knew that the representations were false, of which fact the plaintiffs were ignorant and therefore relied thereon, the statute of limitations was tolled. They further assert that such false representations "were not discoverable" until their formal demand for overtime compensation was rejected under date of July 15, 1976, and, since this action was filed July 13, 1978, it was not barred by the statute of limitations.

It must be kept in mind that the time span involved in the failure to compensate for overtime, as alleged in plaintiffs' petition, is 1950 to 1971, a period of 21 years. Further, the record below on behalf of the plaintiffs shows that the formal refusal of their claims in the communication of July 1, 5, 1976 from the president of the Board contains the facts that there had not been any accumulated overtime since January 1, 1966, and even that accrual had never been authorized for payment or ever included in the Police Department Budgets submitted to the City (Plaintiffs' Document VI). In this connection, it is noted that the statute of limitations on this class of action begins to run "after the cause accrued". Section 516.140 RSMo (1978).

However, the plaintiffs seek to avoid the impact of this statutory law by taking the position that by reason of the defendants' "fraudulent concealment" the two-year statute of a limitations was tolled because such concealment was an "other improper" act under Section 516.280, supra. The "fraudulent concealment", the plaintiffs argue, was manifested by directives, general orders and in public meetings which assured plaintiffs that their overtime would be compensated.

The point has been reached in this decision where a summary of the operation of the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department is pertinent. This Department operates under the exclusive control of a Board of Police Commissioners appointed by the Governor, is a branch of the State government, and its internal functions are exclusively governed by State law....