Alexander v. City of Alexandria

150 So. 3d 590, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 452, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2656, 2014 WL 5656202
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 5, 2014
DocketNo. 14-452
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 150 So. 3d 590 (Alexander v. City of Alexandria) 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
Alexander v. City of Alexandria, 150 So. 3d 590, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 452, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2656, 2014 WL 5656202 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

KEATY, Judge.

|, Plain tiff, Raymond Alexander, Sr., appeals the trial court’s judgment in favor of Defendants, the City of Alexandria (the City) and the Alexandria Municipal Fire & Police Service Board (the Board). For the following reasons, the trial court’s judgment is affirmed.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In this employment termination case, the issue is whether the standards required by La.R.S. 38:2181(B)(2) for notifying a fireman that he was under investigation were met. In that regard, Alexander was a firefighter employed by the Alexandria Fire Department (AFD) who lied about having an ill son in order to delay having to take a random drug test, which was scheduled for the morning of March 28, 2012. On the evening prior to the drug screen, Alexander had taken pain medication not prescribed to him by a doctor, and he feared failing the test for that reason. Alexander caused further delay by falsely claiming that he was meeting with his daughter in Lafayette on the morning of March 29, 2012. As a result of his lies, almost forty-eight hours passed between the time he said he took the medication and the time he finally took the drug test on the evening of March 29, 2012. His test results came back as diluted. Alexander was subsequently terminated by the AFD through written correspondence dated May 10, 2012.

Alexander appealed his termination to the Board, which affirmed the AFD’s decision. Alexander then appealed the Board’s decision to the trial court, which also affirmed the Board’s decision.

In this instant appeal, Alexander assigns as error the trial court’s affirmation of the Board’s decision not to reverse the AFD’s termination. Alexander contends |gthat the AFD failed to meet the standards required by Louisiana law, La.R.S. 33:2181(B)(2), for notifying a fireman that he was under investigation.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The standard of review utilized in this civil service disciplinary matter was enunciated by the supreme court in Mathieu v. New Orleans Public Library, 09-2746, pp. 5-6 (La.10/19/10), 50 So.3d 1259, 1262-63, as follows:

Appellate courts reviewing civil service disciplinary cases are presented with a multifaceted review function. Bannister [v. Dep’t of Sts., 95-0404, p. 8 (La.1/16/96), 666 So.2d 641, 647]; Walters [v. Dep’t of Police of the City of New Orleans, 454 So.2d 106, 113 (La.1984) ]. Initially, deference should be given to the factual conclusions of the civil service commission. A reviewing court should apply the clearly wrong or manifest error rule prescribed generally for appellate review. Bannister, 95-0404 at 8, 666 So.2d at 647; Walters, 454 So.2d at 114. Then, the court must evaluate the commission’s imposition of a particular disciplinary action to determine if it is both based on legal cause and is commensurate with the infraction; the court should not modify the commission’s order unless it is arbitrary, capricious, or characterized by abuse of discretion. Id. “Arbitrary or capricious” means the [592]*592absence of a rational basis for the action taken, Bannister, 95-0404 at 8, 666 So.2d at 647; “abuse of discretion” generally results from a conclusion reached capriciously or in an arbitrary manner, Burst v. Board of Commissioners, Port of New Orleans, 93-2069, p. 5 (La.App. 1 Cir. 10/7/94),-646 So.2d 955, 958.

Thus, the clearly wrong or manifest error standard of review is applicable in the instant matter.

DISCUSSION

In his only assignment of error, Alexander contends that the AFD failed to meet the notification standards required by La.R.S. 33:2181, which provides in pertinent part:

B. Whenever a fire employee is under investigation, the following minimum standards shall apply:
|s(2) The fire employee being investigated shall be informed in writing at the commencement of any interrogation of the nature of the investigation, of the identity and authority of the person conducting such investigation, of the identity of all persons present during such interrogation, and of the specific charges or violations being investigated. The fire employee shall be allowed to make notes.

In the present case, the record contains written correspondence from AFD Fire Chief Bernard Wesley to Alexander dated April 4, 2012. The correspondence provided Alexander with written notice of the AFD’s initiation of a formal investigation into his actions. Alexander was further advised of the nature of the investigation, that AFD Fire Prevention Chief Larry King would conduct the investigation, and of the specific alleged violations that Chief King would investigate. The correspondence was signed by both Chief Wesley and Alexander on April 4, 2012. Under Alexander’s signature, the phrase “Received by Firefighter Raymond Alexander” is noted.

Following this April 4, 2012 correspondence, Alexander met with Chief King on April 13, 2012, April 17, 2012, and April 19, 2012. Prior to each meeting, Alexander was not provided written correspondence similar to the April 4, 2012 written correspondence. In his appellate brief and trial court testimony, Alexander argues that he should have been provided written correspondence in accordance with La.R.S. 33:2181(B)(2) and identical to the April 4, 2012 written correspondence at the beginning of each and every meeting which occurred on these three dates. Since no written correspondence was received after April 4, 2012, Alexander contends that the AFD failed to comply with La.R.S. 33:2181(B)(2).

Thus, we must determine whether an interrogation occurred on these three dates. If an interrogation occurred, we must then determine whether the notice ^provided in the April 4, 2012 written correspondence, which complied with the requirements of La.R.S. 33:2181 (B)(2), applied to the April 13, 2012, April 17, 2012, and April 19, 2012 alleged interrogations.

With respect to whether the April 13, 2012 meeting constitutes an interrogation, we review the record which shows that the May 10, 2012 written correspondence terminating Alexander was submitted into evidence at the Board’s hearing which occurred on July 25, 2012. This twelve-page letter plus attachments provides a factual basis, a timeline of events, truths and mistruths, and the rules that Alexander violated which led to his termination. Pursuant to this correspondence, April 13, 2012, was the date of the first internal affairs investigation meeting be[593]*593tween Chief King and Alexander. The correspondence indicates that at the commencement of that meeting, Alexander signed the Firefighters’ Bill of Rights. The bill of rights is a reproduction of the provisions of La.R.S. 33:2181, entitled “Applicability; minimum standards during investigation; penalties for failure to comply.” Chief King further testified that Alexander signed the bill of rights. The written correspondence further reveals that Alexander presented Chief King with a “Timeline and Rebuttal to Administrative Leave Letter and Investigation.” Both the bill of rights and rebuttal were also submitted into evidence at the Board’s hearing.

Notably, there is no indication in this May 10, 2012 correspondence, nor anywhere in the record, that any questions were asked during this April 13, 2012 meeting.

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Bluebook (online)
150 So. 3d 590, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 452, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2656, 2014 WL 5656202, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alexander-v-city-of-alexandria-lactapp-2014.