Investigation of Smith, In re
| Decision Date | 20 June 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. CA,CA |
| Parties | In re Investigation of Janet SMITH. 88 0596. 546 So.2d 561 |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Robert L. Kleinpeter, Kleinpeter and Kleinpeter, Baton Rouge, for appellant.
Robert R. Boland, Jr., Civ. Service Legal Counsel, Dept. of State Civ. Service, Baton Rouge, for appellee.
Before CARTER, LANIER and LeBLANC, JJ.
This appeal arises from an investigation by the Civil Service Commission of the conduct of two state civil service employees. Mr. Herbert L. Sumrall, the Director of the Department of State Civil Service, sent a letter to the Chairman of the Commission, dated July 8, 1987, alleging that Mr. Glenn A. Miller, who was serving in a position of Environmental Program Administrator with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), did not meet the minimum qualifications for that position. Mr. Sumrall further alleged that Mr. Miller's application to the Department of State Civil Service for this promotion contained a false statement with respect to his employment record. Mr. Sumrall also claimed that Ms. Janet A. Smith, serving as Deputy Undersecretary of the DEQ as of the date of the letter, had previously served as Undersecretary of DEQ and that she had taken certain actions during her employment as Undersecretary which had enabled Mr. Miller to be promoted to the position of Environmental Program Administrator. More specifically, Mr. Sumrall accused Ms. Smith of certifying a false statement to DEQ Secretary, Ms. Pat Norton, regarding Mr. Miller's personnel record. Mr. Sumrall alleged that the actions of Mr. Miller and Ms. Smith violated Civil Service Rule 14.1(j). 1 The letter further requested the Commission to adopt a resolution calling a public hearing to explore the truth of the allegations presented in the letter. Subsequently, the Commission conducted a public investigation of Janet Smith and Glen Miller on October 6, 1987. Mr. Miller was found to have violated Civil Service Rule 14.1(j) by making false statements on his employment application. He was not removed from his position but was formally reprimanded and found ineligible for any promotion for a two year period. The Commission also determined that "... Smith, by omission, committed a fraud upon the DSCS [Department of State Civil Service] and" thus violated Rule 14.1(j). The Commission ordered that Ms. Smith's [Deputy Undersecretary] salary be reduced by four percent per month for a period of twelve months from the date of the Commission's decision and further declared her to be ineligible to receive any merit increases for a twelve month period.
Ms. Smith appealed the Commission's decision alleging that the Commission does not have jurisdiction to investigate her conduct during the period of time that she was employed in the unclassified position of Undersecretary of DEQ. Appellee, Mr. Sumrall in his capacity as Director of the DSCS, asserts that although Ms. Smith was serving in an unclassified civil service position at the time of the actions at issue, she was also at that time, occupying a position in the state classified service [Deputy Undersecretary of DEQ] in the status of leave without pay. Furthermore, he asserts that appellant had returned to the classified position prior to the time of the investigation of Ms. Smith's conduct. Appellee argues that Ms. Smith retained her classified status and the privileges of a classified career while she served as Undersecretary of DEQ and therefore, the Commission has the power to investigate the actions of Ms. Smith while she served as Undersecretary, even though that position was itself unclassified. Although the parties' briefs make allegations about Smith's personnel record, we must decide the issue of the Commission's power to investigate the actions of Smith based on the information about her employment history that is presented in the record. The record establishes that Smith was serving in the position of Deputy Undersecretary of DEQ at the time of the hearing in this matter and that she had previously served as Undersecretary for DEQ. The record also clearly establishes that the conduct of Smith that is at issue (the submission of information regarding Mr. Miller to a superior) took place in April of 1986, when she was serving as Undersecretary. The record further establishes that Smith has been a state employee since March of 1966. However, there is no information in the record to establish the position(s) held by Smith, whether classified or unclassified, prior to her employment as Undersecretary of DEQ. 2
Applying the pertinent constitutional and statutory provisions to the facts of the case, we find that Smith was serving in an unclassified position [Undersecretary of DEQ] at the time of the conduct in question. At the time of the hearing, Smith was serving in a classified position [Deputy Undersecretary of DEQ]. See, La. Const. art. 10, Sec. 2; La.R.S. 36:5. 3
Thus we must determine whether the Commission has the power to investigate and reduce the salary of a classified employee with respect to conduct that occurred while that employee was serving in an unclassified position. We refer to the pertinent text of the Louisiana Constitution since it is the source of the Commission's jurisdiction.
La. Const. Art. 10, Sec. 10 provides, in pertinent part:
(A) Rules. (1) Powers. ... [The] commission is vested with broad and general rule-making and subpoena powers for the administration and regulation of...
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