Weathers v. City of Oxford

• Decision Date: 02 July 2004
• Parties: Lisa C. WEATHERS v. CITY OF OXFORD.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

895 So.2d 305

Lisa C. WEATHERS v. CITY OF OXFORD.

2030049.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

July 2, 2004.

Randy J. Moeller, Anniston, for appellant.

C. David Stubbs of Stubbs, Sills & Frye, P.C., Anniston, for appellee. PITTMAN, Judge.

Lisa C. Weathers appeals from a summary judgment entered by the Calhoun Circuit Court in favor of the City of Oxford ("the City") in her action against the City seeking a declaratory judgment that the City had violated her constitutional right to due process when it suspended her from her employment without pay for five days.

In September 2002, Weathers, a police officer employed by the City, exited a police vehicle that she had been operating in an attempt to apprehend a burglary suspect; however, Weathers failed to place the vehicle in park or to apply the parking brake. As a result, the vehicle rolled into a nearby ditch and was damaged. Just over one month later, on October 9, 2002, the City's Accident Review Board held a hearing concerning that incident, which Weathers attended.¹ On October 20, 2002, the Accident Review Board issued an order finding that "the damage to the police vehicle could have been avoided by applying the emergency brake and making sure the vehicle was in park." The Accident Review Board recommended that Weathers be suspended without pay from her job for five working days. On the morning of November 14, 2002, Weathers was served with the recommendation of the Accident Review Board, and she was orally informed that she was on suspension. Weathers did not appeal that decision to the Oxford Civil Service Board.

On February 5, 2003, Weathers filed a complaint in the Calhoun Circuit Court seeking a declaratory judgment that the City had violated her constitutional right to due process; the City filed an answer 15 days later. On August 13, 2003, the City filed a motion for a summary judgment and submitted a brief and evidentiary materials in support of that motion. Weathers filed a brief 13 days later opposing the City's summary-judgment motion, but she filed nothing else in response to that motion. Following a hearing, the trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of the City on September 22, 2003. The trial court's judgment stated, in pertinent part:

"It is [Weathers's] contention that the City failed to provide her with adequate pre-disciplinary procedures as set out under Alabama Code [1975,] §§ 11-43-230, et seq. The Court finds that [Ala.Code 1975,] § 11-43-232, ... states that the procedures set out in § 11-43-230 shall not apply to any municipality with [an] established due process procedure for law enforcement officers on July 14, 2001, so long as the municipality continues to have a due process procedure in full force and effect.

"The [City] offered evidence that they did have a due process procedure in full force and effect during all pertinent times referenced herein, and said procedure was set out in the Civil Service handbook for all employees, including police officers. In addition, there is no evidence that the [City,] by and through its agents or employees, deprived [Weathers] of any due process before her [suspension. Weathers] was afforded a hearing before her suspension was recommended. Furthermore, it is undisputed that [Weathers] failed to file an appeal of her suspension to the Oxford Civil Service Board pursuant to Section 14 of the Rules and Regulations of the Oxford Civil Service Act before proceeding with her cause of action before this Court. As such, [Weathers] failed to exhaust the administrative remedies available to her before seeking redress before this Court."

Weathers argues on appeal that the trial court improperly entered a summary judgment because, she says, (1) genuine issues of material fact precluded the entry of a summary judgment; (2) the City violated § 11-43-230, Ala.Code 1975, which requires a predisciplinary hearing; and (3) the City violated Weathers's federal constitutional right to a predisciplinary hearing.

Our standard of review is well-settled:

"A motion for summary judgment tests the sufficiency of the evidence. Such a motion is to be granted when the trial court determines that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. The moving party bears the burden of negating the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. Furthermore, when a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in Rule 56, [Ala. R. Civ. P.,] the nonmovant may not rest upon mere allegations or denials of his pleadings, but must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Proof by substantial evidence is required."

Sizemore v. Owner-Operator Indep. Drivers Ass'n, 671 So.2d 674, 675 (Ala.Civ.App.1995) (citations omitted).

The record clearly shows that Weathers did not respond to the City's summary-judgment motion with any documentary or testimonial evidence. Weathers's brief filed in opposition to the City's summary-judgment motion relies entirely on her contention that she received notice of the Accident Review Board hearing only three hours before it was held and that § 11-43-230, Ala.Code 1975, requires 10 days' advance notice before any predisciplinary hearing may be held as to municipal law-enforcement officers. The Code section cited by Weathers reads, in pertinent part:

"(b) Every municipality shall establish written due process procedures applicable to the predisciplinary hearing. At a minimum, this due process shall consist of written notice to the officer of the reasons for the termination or suspension. This notice shall be issued by the person or persons with authority to suspend or terminate the law enforcement officer. The notice shall inform the officer that he or she has 10 days to request, in writing, a hearing before the person or persons with authority to suspend or terminate. If the officer fails to request the hearing within 10 days from receiving the notice, the right to any hearing shall be deemed waived."

Ala.Code 1975, § 11-43-230(b). That Code section, together with §§ 11-43-231 and -232, were enacted as a general act and took effect on July 14, 2001. See Act No. 2001-463, Ala. Acts 2001, p. 617.

The City, on the other hand, offered copies of the Oxford Civil Service Act, pertinent City personnel rules and regulations, and copies of documents relating to the Accident Review Board hearing; the City contended that § 11-43-232, Ala.Code 1975, exempted the City from the application of § 11-43-230. The City offered evidence to show that the Alabama Legislature established the Oxford Civil Service Board ("the Civil Service Board") when it enacted a local act on September 30, 1975. See Act No. 963, Ala. Acts 1975, p.1996. In that local legislation an "employee" is defined as "any person including firemen and policemen" who works for the City. See § 2, Act No. 963. The Civil Service Board is authorized "to make rules and regulations governing ... matters as may be necessary to accomplish the purposes of this act." See § 9, Act No. 963. The Civil Service Board is further required by the act to "establish rules and regulations governing dismissals, suspensions, layoffs, terminations, and leaves of absence." Id. The legislation includes the following provision:

"Section 13. An appointing authority shall have authority to suspend an employee for any personal misconduct, or fact, affecting or concerning his fitness or ability to perform his duties in the public interest. In the event an employee is suspended for more than thirty days, he shall be entitled to a public hearing by the [Civil Service] [B]oard upon written demand filed within five days from the date of the order of suspension. If, after hearing, the [Civil Service] [B]oard determines that the action of the appointing authority was not with cause, the suspension shall be revoked."

The local legislation, although amended several times, has remained in full force and effect, in pertinent part, since it was first enacted.² The City concluded its argument by noting that § 11-43-232, Ala.Code 1975, reads:

"This article shall not apply to any municipality with an established due process procedure for law enforcement officers on July 14, 2001, so long as the municipality continues to have a due process procedure in full force and effect."

Therefore, the City argued, the Legislature has exempted the City from the application of § 11-43-230, and, thus, it was entitled to a summary judgment as a matter of law.

Based on the arguments of the parties in this action, we are required to determine which of the two cited statutes, the 1975 local act or the 2001 general act, properly governed the procedures pertaining to the City's suspension of Weathers. The applicable rules of statutory construction are quite clear:

"`The fundamental rule of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the legislature in enacting the statute. Words used in a statute must be given their natural, plain, ordinary, and commonly understood meaning, and where plain language is used a court is bound to interpret that language to mean exactly what it says. If the language of the statute is unambiguous, then there is no room for judicial construction and the clearly expressed intent of the legislature must be given effect.'"

Ex parte Master Boat Builders, Inc., 779 So.2d 192, 196 (Ala.2000) (quoting IMED Corp. v. Systems Eng'g Assocs. Corp., 602 So.2d 344, 346 (Ala.1992)). It is a well-established principle...