Leininger v. City of Bloomington

• Decision Date: 05 September 1980
• Docket Number: No. 50326.,50326.
• Citation: 299 NW 2d 723
• Parties: Timothy M. LEININGER, Appellant, v. CITY OF BLOOMINGTON et al., Respondents.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

299 N.W.2d 723 (1980)

Timothy M. LEININGER, Appellant, v. CITY OF BLOOMINGTON et al., Respondents.

No. 50326.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

September 5, 1980.

Stuart E. Gale, Bloomington, for appellant.

Gary Gandrud, City Atty., Bloomington, for respondents.

Heard before SHERAN, C. J., and YETKA, and WAHL, JJ., and considered and decided by the court en banc.

WAHL, Justice.

Timothy Leininger appeals the judgment of the Hennepin County District Court affirming the decision of the Bloomington Merit Board,¹ which upheld the action of the City of Bloomington (hereinafter "City") demoting Leininger from the rank of sergeant in the Bloomington Police Department (hereinafter "Department") to the rank of police officer. He raises the following issues: (1) whether the Merit Board applied the correct legal standard in arriving at its decision; (2) whether the decision of the Merit Board is reasonably supported by the evidence; (3) whether the Merit Board is empowered to modify the City's proposed discipline; (4) whether Leininger's demotion violated his First Amendment rights; (5) whether alleged improprieties by the City denied Leininger his due process right to a fair hearing; (6) whether the City denied Leininger due process when it failed to implement its Employee Assistance Program before proceeding with disciplinary action; and (7) whether Leininger is entitled to receive pay for the period from July 6, 1977, when the City notified him in writing of its intent to demote him, to December 13, 1978, when the Merit Board rendered its opinion. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Timothy Leininger had served as a police officer and sergeant in the Bloomington Police Department for 12 years at the time this disciplinary action was begun. There was no evidence that prior to his promotion to the rank of sergeant in November of 1974 he was not a highly regarded officer of the patrol division. His performance apparently warranted a promotion to the rank of sergeant. There is some indication that in his supervisory position he disagreed with some of the policies of the police department and, in fact, criticized the department in a quarterly traffic law enforcement report in the spring of 1976. He was thereafter transferred to the juvenile division of the police department in June 1976, although there was then no need for additional officers in that division. At the same time, Sergeant Ronald Swanson, who had also been critical of certain departmental policies, was similarly transferred to the juvenile division without having requested such a transfer. Although Leininger and Swanson felt the transfers were punishment for their criticism of the Department, Captain Anderson testified that the transfers occurred because of departmental reorganization which reduced the number of platoons from six to four. Two platoon sergeants had to be transferred, and it was the opinion of the watch commanders that Leininger and Swanson should be transferred because they were least effective "on the street."

Leininger was not happy in the juvenile division. He had little to do and was unsure what his duties were because there was no written manual of procedures and rules to follow. He and Sergeant Swanson shared a small office, which had no windows, one desk, one chair, and one phone for the two of them. Lieutenant Zuehlsdorff, who had participated in the decision to transfer Leininger, told Leininger in March or April of 1977 that he did not fit into the Department because he wanted an ideal organization and that was impossible. Zuehlsdorff accused Leininger of not doing his job, and when Leininger asked for documentation, Zuehlsdorff told him he would obtain some. Close surveillance of Leininger's conduct followed from the end of March through early May 1977. As a result of this surveillance, Leininger was charged with seven departmental rules violations: (1) arriving at work 30 minutes late and leaving work approximately one hour early on March 24 and March 25, 1977; (2) inefficient use of time and a city vehicle in transporting juveniles on March 29, 1977; (3) submitting as completed an unacceptable investigative report in April, 1977, and failing to obey an order to investigate further; (4) patrolling areas without a sufficient reason on April 29, 1977; (5) submitting false time cards on April 4 and April 29, 1977; (6) conducting personal business on duty time on March 30, March 31, April 1, and April 28, 1977; and (7) misleading the watch commander and making misrepresentations to a supervisor on September 18, 1976, in order to obtain time off.

On May 1, 1977, Leininger went on sick leave, suffering from what the City's doctors diagnosed as a situational stress reaction caused by the intense surveillance. On June 6, 1977, the City informed Leininger by letter of its intent to demote him to the rank of police officer on the basis of the allegations of misconduct mentioned above. Leininger requested a hearing before the Bloomington Merit Board pursuant to the Minnesota Veterans Preference Act, Minn. Stat. § 197.46 (1978).² The Board heard evidence between August 16, 1977, and December 13, 1978, when it rendered an opinion affirming the City's action. Leininger appealed the Board's decision to Hennepin County District Court, and on May 15, 1979, that court remanded the case to the Board for clarification of the legal standard adopted by the Board and to gather more evidence relating to Leininger's claim for compensation during the time the disciplinary proceedings were in progress. The Board, by letter, informed the court that it had made an independent determination of the facts and had unanimously sustained the demotion. The Board did not reopen the hearing to determine Leininger's claim for pay as ordered by the District Court. The District Court affirmed the Merit Board's actions. This appeal followed.

1. Leininger's first argument is that the Merit Board applied the wrong legal standard to the case because it erroneously based its decision upon a showing of "reasonable cause" rather than "just cause," as required by statute.

An employee who is a veteran cannot be dismissed or demoted except for "incompetency or misconduct." Minn.Stat. 197.46 (1978). Minnesota Statutes § 44.08, subd. 1 (1978), provides that no city employee may be dismissed or suspended except for "just cause." This court has held that there is no significant difference between the "misconduct" required by Minn.Stat. § 197.46 and the "just cause" required by Minn.Stat. § 44.08, subd. 1. Ekstedt v. Village of New Hope, 292 Minn. 152, 193 N.W.2d 821 (1972). In Ekstedt we adopted the following standard, 292 Minn. at 162-63, 193 N.W.2d at 826, quoting respectively, State ex rel. Hart v. Common Council, 53 Minn. 238, 244, 55 N.W. 118, 120 (1893), and Hagen v. State Civil Serv. Bd., 282 Minn. 296, 299, 164 N.W.2d 629, 632 (1969).

"`Cause,\' or `sufficient cause,\' means `legal cause,\' and not any cause which the council may think sufficient. The cause must be one which specially relates to and affects the administration of the office, and must be restricted to something of a substantial nature directly affecting the rights and interests of the public. The cause must be one touching the qualifications of the officer or his performance of its duties, showing that he is not a fit or proper person to hold the office. An attempt to remove an officer for any cause not affecting his competency or fitness would be an excess of power, and equivalent to an arbitrary removal. In the absence of any statutory specification the sufficiency of the cause should be determined with reference to the character of the office, and the qualifications necessary to fill it."

* * * * * *

"Under this definition it appears that the cause or reason for dismissal must relate to the manner in which the employee performs his duties, and the evidence showing the existence of reasons for dismissal must be substantial."

There is no evidence that the Merit Board did not follow the "just cause" or "misconduct" standard required by Minn. Stat. §§ 44.08, subd. 1, and 197.46. The Board explicitly found that the demotion was justified "for reasons of incompetence and misconduct." In its letter to the District Court, the Board clarified the standard by stating:

The Board concluded that the City had established by substantial evidence that Sergeant Leininger was incompetent and had, in the course of his duties as sergeant, committed misconduct. We interpreted incompetence and misconduct to include: (1) improper discharge of duties or failure to perform required duties which rendered the person unfit to retain his/her position, and (2) failure to adhere to significant departmental rules and regulations which rendered the person unfit to perform the required duties of his/her position.

We conclude that the Merit Board did apply the correct legal standard in arriving at its decision.

2. Leininger contends that the decision of the Merit Board is not reasonably supported by the evidence. In State ex rel. Jenson v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 268 Minn. 536, 538, 130 N.W.2d 143, 146 (1964), cert. denied, 380 U.S. 943, 85 S.Ct. 1023, 13 L.Ed.2d 962 (1965), we described this court's standard of review of municipal employee dismissal hearings as follows (footnotes omitted):

Where proceedings before the administrative agency vested with final authority are instituted upon a notice which reasonably details the facts claimed to constitute misconduct so that the employee is given fair opportunity to prepare and defend; where the charges made are of a substantial nature directed at the malfeasance or nonfeasance of duties assigned to the employee and which specially relate to and affect the rights and interests of the public; and where the employee is afforded a fair hearing, the findings upon which a discharge is based are to be accepted by the court unless they are unsupported by substantial evidence on the record

...