Ziomek v. Bartimole

• Decision Date: 02 July 1968
• Citation: 156 Conn. 604,244 A.2d 380
• Parties: Anthony J. ZIOMEK et al. v. John L. BARTIMOLE et al.
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court

Page 380

244 A.2d 380

156 Conn. 604

Anthony J. ZIOMEK et al. v. John L. BARTIMOLE et al.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

July 2, 1968.

Thomas J. Barrett, Bridgeport, for appellants (named defendant et al.).

David B. Cohen, Derby, for appellees (plaintiffs).

Before KING, C.J., and ALCORN, HOUSE, COTTER and THIM, JJ.

COTTER, Associate Justice.

The plaintiffs, officers in the Derby police department, took an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas, pursuant to § 52-7 of the General Statutes, from the action of the board of police commissioners of the city of Derby in making certain promotions in the police department of the city. Riley v. Board of Police Commissioners, 145 Conn. 1, 6, 137 A.2d 759. The defendants have appealed to this court from a judgment of the Court of Common Pleas, which sustained the appeal from the board, vacated the actions of the board and ordered that new examinations be held for the ranks of lieutenant and, as and if needed, for sergeant, grade A police officers, and detective sergeant.

The facts pertinent to a decision of this appeal may be summarized as follows: In August, 1966, the chief of the Derby police department died, and, in accordance with the provisions of the charter of the city of Derby, Edward Slezak, then a lieutenant, was designated and sworn in as the successor chief of police, and as a result a vacancy in the position of lieutenant was created. On October 10, 1966, a notice was posted by the board of police commissioners in the Derby police station that an examination would be held on October 19, 1966, for the position of lieutenant. Thereafter, on October 17, 1966, John L. Bartimole, the then mayor, acting on his own and without seeking or obtaining a previous vote from, and without having had prior consultations with, the board of police commissioners, canceled the giving of the examination. Thereafter, separate notices were posted on December 23, 1966, that there would be examinations for the position of lieutenant to be held December 27, 1966, for the position of sergeant to be held December 28, 1966, and for the position of grade A police officer to be held on December 29, 1966. A fourth notice was posted December 28, 1966, that there would be an examination for the position of detective sergeant on December 30, 1966. The notices were signed by John L. Bartimole, mayor, member ex officio, 'for board of police commissioners.' The board of police commissioners did not hold a meeting relative to the scheduling of those examinations. There had been no prior vote taken by the board authorizing the mayor to issue the notices, and the notices did not contain any information as to the nature of the examinations, i.e., whether the examinations were to be oral or written or both. Nor did they contain any statement as to the content or standards to be applied or taken into account, i.e., other elements such as experience, record, etc., which might be considered in the scoring of the examinations. Prior examinations in the police department in the city of Derby had been turned over to the state personnel department, which department had prepared the examination, and conducted, graded and scored it. The police commissioners were not allowed to be present in the room when these examinations had been conducted. The mayor had communicated with the state personnel department to conduct the instant examinations, as in the past. The commissioners were disturbed that they, in the past, had not been allowed to conduct the examinations. Requests for the preparation of prior examinations for promotion had been submitted to the estate personnel department.

Some days before the examination was to be held, when the mayor was questioned by Joseph Stankye, one of the police commissioners, as to the name of the proposed preparer of the examinations, the source thereof, and whether or not the would be civil service examinations, the mayor refused to answer or to divulge any of the information to him. The mayor prepared the examinations by copying questions from a book on police promotional procedures entitled 'Arco, Civil Service Series,' which he obtained at the Bridgeport Public Library, and he also copied the key to the questions contained therein. On December 27, 1966, the mayor presented a package to the board of police commissioners which he then informed them was the examination which he had obtained to be given for the position of lieutenant. This was the first time the board of police commissioners had seen the examination. They did not know nor were they informed of the name of the person who had prepared the examination, and they did not know the source from which the examination had been obtained. No member of the board of police commissioners was informed of any prior security provisions or where the examination had been kept or whether anyone other than the mayor had seen it prior to the evening of the examination. The examination had, in fact, been prepared solely by the mayor, himself, who had no previous background, knowledge or experience in the preparation of any kind of promotional examinations, and the examination was not a 'civil service * * * (examination) based on the Connecticut state police entrace examinations' although previous promotional examinations were. Derby Charter § 49(a) (1960); 26 Spec.Laws 1077, No. 549 § 1. No one from the state police was present during the examinations, and they were not conducted 'under the supervision of the state police' although the state police did supervise previous promotional examinations in the city of Derby. Ibid. On each night that the examinations were held, the mayor produced a sealed envelope containing the examinations which he turned over to William Rossi and Joseph Stankye, two police commissioners, in the presence of those who were taking the examination. Each candidate was required and directed to sign his name on his examination paper although no signature was required in previous promotional civil service examinations. Although the notice for the examination did not state or specify that an oral examination would be given, each candidate was required to take a so-called oral examination.

In each case, the mayor and the other two commissioners graded and scored the examinations, and the mayor participated in the oral interviews. The mayor likewise participated in the correction of all of the written examinations and in the questioning and scoring of each candidate in all of the oral examinations, and his total scores were included in each instance although he had not previously participated in prior promotional examinations. All of the so-called successful candidates were selected...