Adler v. Williams

203 So. 3d 504, 2016 La.App. 1 Cir. 0103, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1680
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 16, 2016
DocketNo. 2016 CA 0103
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 203 So. 3d 504 (Adler v. Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adler v. Williams, 203 So. 3d 504, 2016 La.App. 1 Cir. 0103, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1680 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

PETTIGREW, J.

h Plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the trial court, denying her request for a preliminary injunction and dismissing her claims for damages against all named defendants. For the reasons that follow, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff, Stacey Adler, was an employee of the Town of White Castle for 24 years; for 17 years, she held the appointed position of Town Clerk. According to the record, Ms. Adler became involved in a payroll fraud investigation in 2014 conducted by the Town’s CPA firm against the Assistant Town Clerk, Monica Hamilton. Also in 2014, White Castle Mayor Gerald Jermarr Williams ran for re-election, under the mistaken belief that Ms. Adler was not supporting his candidacy. Mayor Williams won re-election, and, on December 31, 2014, both Ms. Adler and her mother (another employee of the Town of White Castle) received notice, signed by Mayor Williams, that their employment was terminated, effective January 2,2015.1

Ms. Adler testified that on January 2, 2015, she reported to Town Hall and returned her keys, her mother’s keys, and her uniforms. She also destroyed her Town of White Castle credit card in front of two other Town of White Castle employees. Ms. Adler then collected her personal belongings and left Town Hall.' Ms. Adler received a second letter dated January 5, 2015, changing her effective termination date as follows:' “There was an error in your termination letter of December 31, 2014. This is your notice that yoúr services are no longer required at the expiration of your term, at 6:00 pm on January the 20, 2015, the first regular, meeting of the board of aldermen |2succeeding a regular election.”2 Thereafter, at the January 20, 2015 meeting, the Board of Aldermen considered Mayor Williams’ recommendation of Ms, Hamilton for Town Clerk, and Ms. Hamilton was appointed by a unanimous vote,

Ms. Adler' filed suit' against Mayor Williams, individually and in his official [508]*508capacity as Mayor; the Board of Aldermen, in its official capacity; and, individually, the Board of Aldermen’s members, Barbara O’Bear, Chris Landry, Elliot Martin, Kipp Knight, and Shalanda Allen, requesting preliminary and permanent injunctions, a declaratory judgment, a writ of mandamus, and, in the alternative, damages. Ms. Adler alleged in her petition that on January 20, 2015, Mayor Williams and the Board of Aldermen acted in violation of La. R.S. 42:11 et seq. (“Open Meetings Law”) and La. R.S. 23:967 (“Louisiana’s Whistleblower Statute”). According to Ms. Adler’s petition, the regular meetings of the mayor and the board of aldermen for the Town of White Castle were required to be held at 6:00 p.m. on the third Monday of each month. Thus, the meeting following the re-election of Mayor Williams and the new board of aldermen for the year 2015 should have been held on January 19,2015. In addition to the injunctive and declaratory relief, Ms. Adler sought damages, attorney fees, and court costs.

The preliminary injunction was heard over a period of three days, March 4, 17, and 18, 2015, at which time the trial court heard from numerous witnesses and considered various documents that were introduced into evidence. During the testimony of Mayor Williams, there was an objection by defense counsel to a line of questioning concerning whether Ms. Adler was fired due to retaliation because she was a whis-tleblower. After discussion with the parties, whereby counsel for Ms. Adler agreed to save any evidence concerning Louisiana’s Whistleblower Statute for the merits of the case, the trial court sustained the objection.

13At the close of Ms, Adler’s case, defense counsel moved for a dismissal under La. R.S. 23:844, arguing that, because Ms. Adler failed to meet all six factors necessary for an injunction to issue in a case involving a labor dispute, an injunction was not warranted. The trial court initially took the matter under advisement, ordering the parties to submit briefs on the issue and the applicable law. However, just two days later, the trial court issued a ruling dated March 20, 2015, denying defendants’ motion for involuntary dismissal, concluding as follows:

[Ujpon reflecting on the arguments and evidence heard in open court, this Court now feels confident that it can make a decision without the need of entertaining memoranda on the issue. After hearing the Defendants’ argument in favor of involuntary dismissal, the Plaintiffs argument in opposition thereto, and three days of evidence and argument in open court, this Court finds that the Plaintiff has presented more than sufficient evidence on its case-in-chief to establish its claim by a preponderance of the evidence.

Thereafter, the parties appeared before the trial court on May 5, 2015, at which time the trial court addressed a request made by defense counsel that written reasons be provided for the trial court’s denial of defendants’ motion for dismissal. After some discussion about whether this request was timely, the trial court reiterated its belief that Ms. Adler had presented her case and that dismissal would be improper. Defense counsel again urged the trial court to consider the six factors set forth in La. R.S. 23:844, arguing that Ms. Adler had not proven all of the required factors for the issuance of an injunction. The trial court subsequently vacated the March 20, 2015 ruling denying defendants’ motion for dismissal and heard arguments from both sides on the issue. At the close of the hearing, the trial court instructed the parties to submit briefs on the issue and [509]*509indicated that its decision would be forthcoming.3

On July 16, 2015, the trial court issued the following “Ruling,” dismissing Ms. Adler’s claims:

This matter came before this Court in May of 2015, at which time the parties presented both evidence and argument in open court. | /Thereafter, this Court took this matter under advisement and both parties submitted several post trial memoranda. Having considered the arguments and evidence in open court, along with the post trial memoranda, this Court makes the following ruling.
While the evidence presented raises some suspicion as to whether the Plaintiff was properly terminated, this Court finds that the evidence presented fails to meet the Plaintiffs burden of proof.
Therefore, this Court hereby DISMISSES the Plaintiffs claims for damages against all named defendants for the foregoing reasons and for reasons stated in the Defendants’ post-trial memoranda.
Judgment to be submitted accordingly.

On August 3, 2015, Ms. Adler filed a motion for suspensive appeal from the trial court’s July 16, 2015 ruling.4 The record contains a proposed judgment titled, “Judgment Dismissing Plaintiffs Claims For Damages.” Across this proposed judgment, the trial court made the following notation on August 20, 2015: “Judgment rejected by Court per objections by counsel for Adler. If parties cannot agree on a proper jmt.a hearing should be requested per motion in open court.” Subsequently, on December 17, 2015, the trial court signed a judgment, which provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
203 So. 3d 504, 2016 La.App. 1 Cir. 0103, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1680, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adler-v-williams-lactapp-2016.