Porter v. Bloomsburg State College
| Decision Date | 16 March 1973 |
| Citation | 301 A.2d 621,450 Pa. 375 |
| Parties | Deake G. PORTER, Appellant, v. BLOOMSBURG STATE COLLEGE, Robert J. Nossen, President, et al. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
Deake G. Porter, in pro per.
J. Shane Creamer, Atty. Gen., J. Justin Blewitt, Jr., Deputy Atty. Gen., Harrisburg, for appellees.
Before JONES, C.J., and EAGEN, O'BRIEN, ROBERTS, POMEROY, NIX and MANDERINO, JJ.
Appellant filed a complaint in mandamus against certain officers of Bloomsburg State College and the Pennsylvania Department of Education, seeking reinstatement to his position as an Associate Professor of Economics at Bloomsburg State College. After diverse pleadings were filed, all were withdrawn and an amended complaint was filed. Preliminary objections to this amended complaint were then interposed. After a hearing before the Commonwealth Court sitting en banc, appellee's preliminary objections were sustained on the grounds that appellant had failed to state a cause of action for an action of mandamus. We agree.
In Garratt v. Philadelphia, 387 Pa. 442, 448, 127 A.2d 738, 741 (1965), we stated:
'. . . mandamus lies where there is a clear legal right in the plaintiff and a corresponding duty in the defendant, and the act requested is not discretionary but only ministerial, (but) . . . mandamus will not lie To control an official's discretion or judgment where that official is vested with a discretionary power.' (Emphasis in original.) See also Martin v. Garnet Valley School District, 441 Pa. 502, 272 A.2d 913 (1971); Travis v. Teter, 370 Pa. 326, 87 A.2d 177 (1952); Skok and Thurner v. Hoch, 3 Pa.Cmwlth. 640, (1971).
Whether a mandamus action will lie was a matter left to the sound discretion of the Commonwealth Court, and our scope of review is merely to determine whether the court below abused its discretion. Verratti v. Ridley Township, 416 Pa. 242, 206 A.2d 13 (1965). A review of the record reveals that the Commonwealth Court did not abuse its discretion in this instance because appellant, a nontenured employee, 1 could not contend that he had a clear right to his position or that reinstatement to his position by the college was purely a ministerial act.
Order affirmed.
1 Although appellant was never granted continuous employment (tenure), the proceedings in which he was involved were conducted according to the procedure outlined for terminating those in continuous employment. Appellant was given a hearing before an...
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... ... 54, 338 A.2d 735 (1975); Manheim Township ... School District v. State Bd. of Educ., 1 Pa.Cmwlth. 627, ... 276 A.2d 561 (1971). We are ... defendant. Porter v. Bloomsburg State College, 450 ... Pa. 375, 301 A.2d 621 (1973); ... ...
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Citizens Committee to Recall Rizzo v. Board of Elections of City and County of Philadelphia, 90
...legal right to which he is entitled; and (3) there exists a corresponding duty on the part of the defendant. Porter v. Bloomsburg State College, 450 Pa. 375, 301 A.2d 621 (1973); Valley Forge Racing Assoc. v. State Horse Racing Commission, 449 Pa. 292, 297 A.2d 823 (1972); Mellinger v. Kuhn......
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...control an official's discretion or judgment where that official is vested with a discretionary power." Porter v. Bloomsburg State College, 450 Pa. 375, 376-377, 301 A.2d 621, 622 (1973), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 844, 94 S.Ct. 105, 38 L.Ed.2d 82 (1973)(quoting Garratt v. Philadelphia, 387 Pa.......