Maricopa County v. Gottsponer

• Decision Date: 24 June 1986
• Docket Number: No. 1,CA-CIV,1
• Citation: 723 P.2d 716,150 Ariz. 367
• Parties: MARICOPA COUNTY; Maricopa County Department of Health Services; Adolpho Echeveste, Director; Barbara Sapp, Acting Hospital Director, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Mary T. GOTTSPONER and Maricopa County Employee Merit System Commission, Defendants-Appellees. 8598.
• Court: Arizona Court of Appeals

Page 716

723 P.2d 716

150 Ariz. 367

MARICOPA COUNTY; Maricopa County Department of Health Services; Adolpho Echeveste, Director; Barbara Sapp, Acting Hospital Director, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Mary T. GOTTSPONER and Maricopa County Employee Merit System Commission, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 1 CA-CIV 8598.

Court of Appeals of Arizona Division 1, Department B.

June 24, 1986.

[150 Ariz. 368] Thomas E. Collins, Maricopa Co. Atty. by Lyle R. Huffman, Deputy Co. Atty., Phoenix, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Daniel Ortega, Phoenix, for defendant-appellee Merit Com'n.

Mary T. Gottsponer, Glendale, defendant-appellee pro per.

OPINION

JACOBSON, Presiding Judge.

Appellee Mary T. Gottsponer, a nurse employed at the Maricopa Medical Center, was involved in an incident for which she was subsequently demoted. The Maricopa County Merit System Commission reduced this penalty to a two-day suspension. The Maricopa County Superior Court upheld the Commission's modification in an order that gave rise to the present appeal. We must decide whether the trial court erred in finding the Commission acted within its authority in modifying the penalty imposed by Gottsponer's employer.

On June 12, 1983, Gottsponer remained in the medical center after her shift ended at 7:00 p.m. and entered an empty patient room to watch television with Dr. David Larson, a hospital physician who was on call. At approximately 11:30 p.m., the acting charge nurse, Diane Bomboy, asked the house supervisor, Shirley Wendt, to assist her in handling a situation. When Wendt arrived, Bomboy informed her she saw Dr. Larson and Gottsponer watching television at 9:00 p.m. in an empty patient room and suspected they were still there, although the television was off, the room was dark, and the patient bed curtain was drawn.

Wendt and Bomboy entered the room in question and called to Dr. Larson, who appeared from behind the curtain. Dr. Larson admitted, when asked by Wendt, that a nurse was with him in the room. Gottsponer then appeared from behind the curtain. Wendt advised Gottsponer to leave the medical center immediately. Subsequently, Wendt drafted an incident report and submitted it to Judy Bontrager, the assistant director of nursing.

Bontrager questioned Gottsponer about the report, but asked for no explanation why Gottsponer was in the room with Dr. Larson. Gottsponer furthermore offered no explanation for her behavior. Gottsponer acknowledged the facts stated in the report were true, but insisted she did nothing wrong.

Bontrager consulted other supervisory personnel to determine the appropriate disciplinary action. After considering all possible alternatives, Bontrager recommended Gottsponer be demoted from her Nurse III position to a Nurse II position. The recommendation was ultimately approved by Barbara A. Sapp, the acting hospital director, who gave Gottsponer formal notice of the demotion by letter. The letter informed Gottsponer this disciplinary action was warranted pursuant to the Merit System Resolution, § 17, Part C, No. 4 for improper attitude. The letter further stated Gottsponer violated Merit System Rule 14, which establishes a code of ethics for county employees under the merit system and requires "the maintenance of high standards of honesty, integrity, impartiality and conduct " and that employees "conduct themselves in a manner that will not bring discredit or embarrassment to the County." The letter additionally explained:

The nature of this incident, despite protestations to the contrary, had the appearance of a serious violation of the Code of Ethics. Since III level positions are considered to be role models for other staff as well as skilled, knowledgeable professionals, even the appearance of an indiscretion is not acceptable. In the future, please be more attuned not only to the substance of your actions, but of [sic] how your actions can be interpreted.

Finally, the letter provided Gottsponer's performance would be reviewed in six months to determine her eligibility for promotion and advised her of her right to appeal to the Maricopa County Merit System Commission.

Gottsponer appealed to the Merit System Commission as provided by the enabling legislation of A.R.S. § 11-351 et seq., as well as the Resolution of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors establishing the Merit System in Maricopa County and the Merit System Rules. A hearing ensued before the Commission's hearing officer, and a number of witnesses testified.

Dr. Larson testified he and his wife were personal friends of Gottsponer, that no wrongdoing had occurred, and that the two had remained in the patient room after watching TV merely to talk about various matters. He nonetheless admitted the situation might have appeared improper to others. Gottsponer testified she had done nothing wrong, but acknowledged the incident could have been misinterpreted.

No testimony was presented to prove anything happened in the patient room other than what Dr. Larson reported. Bontrager testified she had no reason to doubt Dr. Larson's testimony, but the appearance of the situation both concerned her and justified the demotion. She and the other nursing personnel who testified stated it was very unprofessional for a nurse to remain on the hospital premises long after work was over and to socialize with a doctor, in a dark room, with the curtain drawn. These persons were also concerned with Gottsponer's attitude, in that she did not seem to regret being discovered in a situation that appeared improper. Other testimony indicated Gottsponer was an outstanding nurse with excellent clinical skills. The witnesses also emphasized, however, that the Nurse III job classification encompasses being considered a role model for other nurses. Bontrager maintained Gottsponer's lack of judgment in this context rendered her ability to serve as a role model highly questionable. No written rules specifically prohibited this type of conduct. Witnesses testified such rules should not be necessary to alert hospital employees that conduct should be avoided where it might appear inappropriate.

The hearing officer submitted written findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a recommendation to the Commission. He found disciplinary action was warranted and that the only question remaining was whether demotion was the appropriate sanction. He conceded Gottsponer's supervisors carefully considered all the options available and chose demotion, because Gottsponer's indiscretion shed light on her inability to conform to the pattern of conduct required of a Nurse III. He also concluded the demotion was not arbitrary or without reasonable cause and recommended the demotion be upheld and the appeal dismissed.

The matter was then considered by the Merit System Commission, which approved the findings and conclusions of its hearing officer that disciplinary action was warranted, but rejected his recommendation the particular disciplinary action taken be upheld. Instead of demotion, the Commission substituted a two-day suspension.

The Maricopa County Department of Health Services appealed the Commission's decision to the Maricopa County Superior Court as provided in A.R.S. § 11-356(D). The trial court affirmed the Commission's order, rescinding Gottsponer's demotion and replacing it with a two-day suspension.

The central issues presented for our review are whether the trial court applied the correct standard of review and, if so, whether it properly applied that standard in reaching its decision. We find the trial court correctly characterized its scope of review pursuant to the Administrative Review Act, A.R.S. § 12-901 et seq., in stating such review was limited to determining whether the Commission acted arbitrarily, capriciously or in abuse of its discretion. Saludes v. Arizona Department of Economic Security, 129 Ariz. 26, 628 P.2d 63 (App.1981).

The trial court also correctly decided that an answer to the question whether the Commission's order was arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion depended upon the scope of the Commission's review. Thus, the court noted § 18(E) of the Merit System Resolution provides that where the "appointing authority" (Gottsponer's immediate employer) has disciplined an employee covered by the Merit System, and the employee appeals to the Merit System Commission, the Commission shall not sustain the appeal unless the action taken by the appointing authority was "arbitrary or taken without reasonable cause." Similar language limiting the Commission's scope of review is found in Merit System Rule 11.16. The trial court's determination the Commission did not abuse its discretion in modifying the penalty must, therefore, be based upon an initial conclusion that the evidence before the Commission revealed the appointing authority's action was "arbitrary or taken without reasonable cause."

Appellees Gottsponer and the Maricopa County Employee Merit System Commission contend our scope of review does not reach an evaluation whether the appointing authority's action in demoting Gottsponer was arbitrary. They correctly state that where this court reviews trial court decisions regarding appeals from administrative agency determinations, we must inquire only whether the record contains evidence of a substantial nature to support the lower court's judgment. Welsh v. Arizona State Board of Accountancy, 14 Ariz.App. 432, 484 P.2d 201 (1971). We do not agree, however, with appellees' assessment that this standard of review prevents us from resolving the question whether Gottsponer was arbitrarily demoted. We cannot determine whether the trial court exercised its discretion arbitrarily without scrutinizing the underlying question whether the Commission could have found the Department's disciplinary action to be arbitrary or without reasonable cause.

Although we find the trial court properly determined that to sustain the Commission, the evidence must have shown the...