Zamora v. Village of Ruidoso Downs, 22107

• Citation: 1995 NMSC 72,907 P.2d 182,120 N.M. 778
• Decision Date: 26 October 1995
• Docket Number: No. 22107,22107
• Parties: Robert ZAMORA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. VILLAGE OF RUIDOSO DOWNS, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

Page 182

907 P.2d 182

120 N.M. 778

Robert ZAMORA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. VILLAGE OF RUIDOSO DOWNS, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 22107.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

Oct. 26, 1995.

[120 N.M. 779] Hawthorne & Hawthorne, P.A., Charles E. Hawthorne, Ruidoso, for Appellant.

J. Robert Beauvais, P.A., J. Robert Beauvais, Ruidoso, for Appellee.

OPINION

BACA, Chief Justice.

1. Appellant Robert Zamora appeals from a district court order granting a motion to dismiss in favor of Appellee Village of Ruidoso Downs. We address two issues on appeal: (1) Whether the district court erred when it concluded that the procedure to appeal a village personnel board's administrative decision was to petition the district court for a writ of certiorari, and (2) whether the district court erred when it concluded that Zamora failed to perfect a timely appeal. We review this case pursuant to SCRA 1986, 12-102(A)(1) (Repl.Pamp.1992), affirm on the first issue, and reverse and remand on the second issue.

I.

2. On November 13, 1986, Zamora was employed by the Village, and on March 1, 1987, he became a permanent employee. On February 25, 1990, Zamora was injured in a non-employment-related accident. Pursuant to Section 3-9-27 of the Ruidoso Village Ordinance, the mayor granted Zamora a six-month disability leave without pay.¹ On April 23 Zamora received a partial medical release and requested to be assigned to light-duty work. The mayor refused to assign light-duty work to Zamora until he received a full medical release.

3. On September 17 the Village notified Zamora that his six-month disability leave had expired and that he was relieved of his duties. On October 2 Zamora filed a written request before the Village Board of Trustees to appeal the Mayor's decision to terminate his employment. The Board of Trustees, sitting as the Ruidoso Downs Personnel Board, granted Zamora's request. On October 20, after hearing the appeal, the Board upheld the Mayor's decision to terminate Zamora's employment.

4. On February 3, 1993, Zamora filed a complaint in district court for breach of employment contract and wrongful termination, alleging that the Ordinance required the Village to assign him to light-duty work.² On November 15 the Village filed a motion for summary judgment in which it conceded that the Ordinance was an implied employment contract but argued that there was no light-duty work available to which Zamora could be assigned. On January 5, 1994, the Village filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to SCRA 1986, 1-012(B)(6) (Repl.Pamp.1991). The Village argued that absent a statute providing otherwise, Zamora can appeal the Board's administrative decision only by first petitioning the district court for a writ of certiorari. The Village also argued that the petition for a writ of certiorari must be filed within thirty days of the Board's administrative decision and that, by filing his complaint twenty-eight months after the fact, Zamora failed to perfect a timely appeal. On March 11 the district court filed an order granting the motion to dismiss. Zamora now appeals.

II.

5. We address whether the district court erred by concluding the procedure to appeal a village personnel board's administrative decision was to petition the district court for a writ of certiorari. Zamora argues that the district court erred, and his argument proceeds on two points: (1) The Board lacks jurisdiction to hear his claim for breach of an implied employment contract, and (2) the scope of review at the district court is de novo. We disagree with Zamora and hold that, unless otherwise provided by statute, the correct procedure to appeal a personnel board's administrative decision is to petition the district court for a writ of certiorari.

6. "Dismissal of a contract claim on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is a legal, not evidentiary, determination.... '[T]he court must accept as true all the facts which are pled.' " Vigil v. Arzola, 101 N.M. 687, 687-88, 687 P.2d 1038, 1038-39 (1984) (quoting McCasland v. Prather, 92 N.M. 192, 194, 585 P.2d 336, 338 (Ct.App.1978)).

A.

7. Zamora argues that the Board does not have jurisdiction to hear his breach of implied employment contract claim because "[a]ll cases dealing with wrongful discharge by breach of contract in New Mexico have been tried de novo." We disagree.

8. The Board derives its authority over employment matters from NMSA 1978, Section 3-13-4(A) (Repl.Pamp.1985), which authorizes municipalities, including the Village, to establish by ordinance a merit system for the hiring, promotion, and discharge of municipal employees. Municipalities are also authorized to create a personnel board to administer the ordinance, Section 3-13-4(A)(1), and to establish rules including methods of employment, promotion, demotion, suspension, and discharge, Section 3-13-4(A)(2)(e). The ordinance is a "contract of employment between the municipality and an employee...." Section 3-13-4(C). Accordingly, the Village adopted an Ordinance that includes sections relating to employee discipline, termination for "just cause," and for appeal of discipline and termination decisions to the personnel board. Thus, the Board was acting within its jurisdiction afforded by statute.

9. New Mexico courts have stated that an administrative body acts in a "quasi-judicial" capacity when it is "required to investigate facts, or ascertain the existence of facts, hold hearings, and draw conclusions from them, as a basis for their official action, and to exercise discretion of a judicial nature." Dugger v. City of Santa Fe, 114 N.M. 47, 50, 834 P.2d 424, 427 (Ct.App.) (quoting Black's Law Dictionary 1121 (5th ed. 1979)), cert. quashed, 113 N.M. 744, 832 P.2d 1223 (1992). Moreover, it has long been held that "quasi[-]judicial" capacity is determined by "the nature of the act to be performed rather than the ... board which performs it...." State ex rel. Sisney v. Board of Comm'rs of Quay County, 27 N.M. 228, 231, 199 P. 359, 361 (1921) (quoting 11 C.J. Certiorari § 67, at 121 (1917)). We find that the Board was acting in its quasi-judicial capacity when it convened to investigate the facts surrounding Zamora's discharge and to determine whether the Mayor's termination of Zamora violated the Ordinance.

10. By arguing the Board has no jurisdiction to determine employment rights, Zamora has overlooked a fundamental distinction between public and private employment. A public employee who successfully can assert a property interest in employment is entitled to due process before he or she can be terminated. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972); Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1972). On the other hand, private employees and public employees who cannot assert a property right in employment are not constitutionally entitled to the same procedures.

11. At a minimum, due process must include notice and opportunity to respond prior to termination. Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 545, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 1495, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985). Due process "requires 'some kind of a hearing' prior to the discharge of an employee who has a constitutionally protected property interest in his employment." Id. at 542, 105 S.Ct. at 1493 (quoting Roth, 408 U.S. at 569-70, 92 S.Ct. at 2705). The pretermination hearing should be "a determination of whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the charges against the employee are true and support the proposed action." Id. at 545-46, 105 S.Ct. at 1495. When a public employee alleges that his employment was terminated in violation of an employment contract, he must be afforded an opportunity to respond at the required administrative hearing. See Boespflug v. San Juan County (In re Termination of Boespflug), 114 N.M. 771, 772, 845 P.2d 865, 866 (Ct.App.1992); see, e.g., Walck v. City of Albuquerque, 113 N.M. 533, 828 P.2d 966 (Ct.App.1992) (stating that terminated city employee appealed termination to city personnel board); Montoya v. City of Albuquerque, 98 N.M. 46, 644 P.2d 1035 (1982) (same).

12. In his complaint for breach of implied employment contract, Zamora argues that the Village, contrary to the Ordinance requirements, refused to assign him to light-duty work. Zamora, however, ignores the fact that this question was already considered by the Board. The Ordinance requires "just cause" before a regular employee may be dismissed, and the dismissal is "effective when endorsed by the [Board]." Section 3-7-10. The Board's task was to determine whether there were "reasonable grounds" or "just cause" to uphold the Mayor's decision. The Ordinance provides a maximum six-month disability leave without pay. After having been on leave for more than six months, Zamora told the Board he had not yet received a full medical release to return to work and he did not know when he would obtain such a release. The Board, therefore, upheld the Mayor's decision.³ Although the proceedings before the Board may not have been termed an action for breach of implied employment contract, those proceedings necessarily involved the question of whether the Ordinance--the basis of Zamora's alleged implied employment contract--was indeed violated.

B.

13. As a second point, Zamora argues the scope of review at the district court is trial de novo. Here, too, we disagree.

14. As we have noted above, the Board is delegated authority to administer matters relating to employment. In that capacity, the personnel board is an "administrative" body with authority to investigate and ascertain evidence in order to determine an individual's substantive rights in employment. Absent a statute providing otherwise, the Board's determinations are reviewable at the district court only by writ of certiorari for arbitrariness, capriciousness, fraud, or lack of substantial evidence.

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