Mauzy v. Hornbeck
Decision Date | 03 May 1979 |
Docket Number | No. 34,34 |
Citation | 285 Md. 84,400 A.2d 1091 |
Parties | Terry L. MAUZY et al. v. David HORNBECK et al. |
Court | Maryland Court of Appeals |
Daniel I. Sherry, Bowie (Sherry, Boyer & Nolan, Chartered, Bowie, on the brief), for appellants.
Carol S. Sugar, Asst. Atty. Gen., Baltimore (Francis B. Burch, Atty. Gen., Baltimore, on the brief), for appellees.
Argued before MURPHY, C. J., and SMITH, DIGGES, ELDRIDGE, ORTH and COLE, JJ.
This case involves the interpretation of a statutory provision dealing with the eligibility of certain community college employees to join the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Maryland.
Maryland Code (1957, 1978 Repl.Vol.), Art. 73B, §§ 81-102, 1 set forth detailed provisions for the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Maryland. Article 73B, § 110, 2 authorizes "optional retirement programs" which, generally, may be elected in lieu of membership in the Teachers' Retirement System by persons "who are either members of or eligible for membership in the Teachers' Retirement System . . ." (§ 110(b)). The section provides that the State shall contribute on behalf of each participant in an optional retirement program the same amount which it would have contributed to the Teachers' Retirement System (§ 110(e)). Article 73B, § 103(b), deals with the eligibility of professional and clerical employees of community colleges to join the Teachers' Retirement System or an optional system under § 110. It provides, Inter alia, that "(a)ll professional employees" of community colleges shall be eligible to join either the Teachers' Retirement System or an optional system under § 110. 3 The precise issue in this case concerns the plaintiffs' eligibility under § 103(b).
The present action began when six employees of the Frederick Community College instituted in the Circuit Court for Frederick County, in equity, a declaratory judgment action against the members of the Board of Trustees of the Teachers' Retirement System. The plaintiffs alleged that they were all professional employees of the community college. The plaintiff Noreen Lyne held the title of Director of Student Development; the plaintiffs Lester Haney, James Morrison and John Sheldon were Assistant Directors of Student Development; the plaintiff Terry Lee Mauzy had been Assistant Director of Community Services (Continuing Education); and the plaintiff J. Rolfe Castleman was Assistant Director of Community Services (Public Information and Photography). The bill of complaint went on to describe the particular duties of each of the plaintiffs at the community college. It was further alleged that the plaintiffs had applied to the Board of Trustees of the Teachers' Retirement System, that their applications had been rejected on the basis of a rule or regulation promulgated by the Board of Trustees, and that the rejection resulted in their ineligibility to join an optional retirement program and have contributions paid by the State of Maryland. The plaintiffs also asserted that employees of other community colleges performing comparable services had been allowed to participate in the Teachers' Retirement System. The relief sought was a decree that the regulation of the Board of Trustees, pursuant to which the plaintiffs were denied eligibility, be declared illegal as violative of the statute, that the plaintiffs be declared eligible for admission to the Teachers' Retirement System, and that such eligibility be declared to have existed since July 1, 1976. The plaintiffs also sought a declaration that the Board of Trustees' action violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Board of Trustees in its answer admitted that all of the plaintiffs were "professional employees of the Frederick Community College." The Board of Trustees further admitted that under a rule promulgated by the Board, the plaintiffs were not eligible to join the Teachers' Retirement System. That rule, as explained in the Board's answer, defined
"a professional employee of a community college who is eligible for membership in the TRS (Teachers' Retirement System) as '. . . any administrative, supervisory or instructional employee In the teaching field (Courses offered for college credit as part of the regular curriculum) in a public Community College . . . ." (Emphasis supplied.)
The Board prayed that the above-quoted rule be declared valid and that the plaintiffs be declared ineligible for admission to the Teachers' Retirement System. In a stipulation of facts filed after the answer, it was again acknowledged by the Board that "all the Complainants are professional employees of the Frederick Community College."
At the trial in the circuit court, the evidence disclosed that all six plaintiffs had in 1976 applied to the Board of Trustees to be declared eligible for the Teachers' Retirement System in order that they could join an optional retirement program with contributions from the State. The evidence also revealed additional information about the plaintiffs, the nature of their positions with the Frederick Community College, and the Board's regulation setting forth eligibility standards for professional employees of community colleges.
The plaintiff Terry Lee Mauzy had been Assistant Director of Community Services prior to September 27, 1977, when he became Director of Community Services. The function of Community Services is to provide non-credit programs for the general public as well as non-credit continuing education courses for certain professions such as nursing, real estate, etc. As an Assistant Director, Mr. Mauzy hired faculty for the non-credit courses, evaluated program development and supervised the clerical staff. When he became Director in September 1977, his duties and responsibilities did not change but, according to his testimony, "have been identical." The defendant Board of Trustees decided that Mr. Mauzy was not eligible to join the Teachers' Retirement System when he was an Assistant Director but that he became eligible when he was appointed Director. As to the period when he was an Assistant Director and the distinction between the two periods, the Board stated:
The plaintiff J. Rolfe Castleman, also an Assistant Director of Community Services, was ruled ineligible by the Board for the same reasons.
The Assistant Secretary of Personnel for Retirement Systems, Christ G. Christis, who has served as Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the Teachers' Retirement System since 1961, testified on behalf of the Board. Mr. Christis stated that "(b)ecause the term ('professional employee') as it read in Article 77A was too broad in nature," the Board of Trustees in 1974 adopted a rule which defined "professional" employees of community colleges in a manner "parallel with the term 'teachers' in Article 77" which is applicable to the eligibility of public elementary and secondary school personnel.
At the conclusion of the trial, the Chancellor, indicating orally that he believed that the Board was authorized "to define 'professionals' as they did," stated that he would deny the relief sought in the bill of complaint. Subsequently, a brief order was filed directing "that the Bill of Complaint for declaratory relief is dismissed." The plaintiffs took an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals and, prior to any proceedings in the Court of Special Appeals, filed in...
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