BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPT. v. Morrison

906 So. 2d 610, 2004 La.App. 1 Cir. 0057, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 297, 2005 WL 388104
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 18, 2005
Docket2004 CA 0057
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 906 So. 2d 610 (BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPT. v. Morrison) 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
BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPT. v. Morrison, 906 So. 2d 610, 2004 La.App. 1 Cir. 0057, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 297, 2005 WL 388104 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

906 So.2d 610 (2005)

BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPARTMENT
v.
Tommy MORRISON.

No. 2004 CA 0057.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

February 18, 2005.

*612 Joseph N. Lotwick, Baton Rouge, for Plaintiff-Appellee Baton Rouge Police Dept.

Floyd J. Falcon, Jr., Daniel L. Avant, Avant & Falcon, Baton Rouge, for Defendant-Appellant Tommy Morrison.

Before: PARRO, KUHN, and FOIL,[1] JJ.

PARRO, J.

This appeal involves disciplinary action taken by the Baton Rouge Police Department (the Department) against Tommy Morrison, resulting in the termination of his employment with the Department. Morrison appealed that decision to the Baton Rouge Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board (the Board), which granted his motion for summary disposition on the grounds that the Department had not given Morrison adequate notice before terminating his employment. The Department filed a petition for judicial review of that decision with the district court. The district court reversed that summary disposition, finding that the pre-termination notice was adequate. Morrison has appealed that judgment to this court. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment and remand this case to the Board for a hearing on the substantive merits of Morrison's appeal.

BACKGROUND

Tommy Morrison was employed by the Department and worked in the evidence room for many years. In early 2000, the Department learned that Morrison and his supervisor had released firearms from the evidence room and given or sold them to various persons in the community, rather than destroying them after they were no longer needed as evidence, as ordered by the court. No evidence release forms were kept to document the disposition of the firearms, which effectively concealed the fact that the firearms had not been destroyed. Based on this information, on March 23, 2000, Morrison was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit felony theft, felony theft, malfeasance in office, and filing or maintaining false public records. On the same date, Chief of Police Greg Phares relieved Morrison of his duties and placed him on paid administrative leave until further notice. After an internal investigation, his status was changed to unpaid leave, effective April 24, 2000, pending the outcome of a pre-termination hearing. Chief Phares sent Morrison a letter on June 6, advising him of the results of the investigation and notifying him that a pre-termination hearing would be held on June 14, 2000, to consider disciplinary action.[2]

Morrison and his attorney attended that hearing before Chief Phares. Based on Morrison's testimony at that hearing *613 and the results of the internal investigation, Chief Phares concluded that termination of his employment was warranted.[3] A letter advising Morrison of that decision was sent to him, terminating his employment effective June 16, 2000.[4] That letter summarized the factual allegations concerning the firearms missing from the evidence room and the testimony Morrison had given at the hearing. According to the letter, Morrison acknowledged many of the facts concerning the release of the firearms and further admitted that he had sold some of the firearms to other individuals. The letter stated that under subsection 0:0 of the Department's Policies and Procedures Manual and Disciplinary Code, Morrison was subject to disciplinary action for conduct unbecoming an officer, as described in subsection 2:10, and for disciplinary action under the provisions of LSA-R.S. 33:2500(A)(1), (3), and (15). Finally, the letter advised that his termination was effective immediately, and could be appealed to the Board within fifteen days from his receipt of the letter.

Morrison filed a timely appeal to the Board, and asked that the hearing be delayed until the criminal charges had been resolved. After those charges were dismissed,[5] the Board held a hearing on November 15, 2001, at which the only matter presented was Morrison's motion for summary disposition. No evidence was taken on the substantive merits of the termination. The attorneys for Morrison and the Department argued their positions on the adequacy of the pre-termination notice, and the Board summarily disposed of the appeal in Morrison's favor.[6]

The Department petitioned for judicial review of that decision, and the district court ruled in its favor on July 28, 2003. In oral reasons for judgment, the district court stated:

Mr. Morrison was employed by the Baton Rouge Police Department and worked in the evidence room. On March 23rd, 2000, he was arrested on numerous felony criminal charges, which arose in part out of his activities while he worked in the evidence division. He was placed on administrative leave by the Chief of Police and was — and an investigation began. On April 24, 2000, his leave was changed to unpaid leave; and on June 6, 2000, Mr. Morrison was notified of the charges against him.
At the hearing on June 14th, 2000, Mr. Morrison — after the hearing, a pretermination hearing, he was terminated on June 16th. Mr. Morrison appealed and on November 15, 2001, the Board granted Mr. Morrison's motion for summary disposition. The Baton Rouge Police Department asked for judicial review.
The court has considered the entirety of the record. The court, based upon the record, feels that the pretermination letter and the hearing clearly satisfied the case of Cleveland Board of Education vs. Loudermill, [470 U.S. 532,] 105 Supreme Court 1487[, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985)].
*614 Therefore, the Board's decision was not made pursuant to Revised Statute 33:2501(E)(3). Therefore, the court reverses the decision of the Board and upholds the termination.

A judgment in accord with these reasons was signed November 12, 2003, and Morrison has appealed that judgment to this court.[7]

APPLICABLE LAW

The provisions governing the Department's corrective and disciplinary actions against classified civil service employees are set out in LSA-R.S. 33:2500. The sections of the statute cited by the Department in its termination letter to Morrison state:

A. The tenure of persons who have been regularly and permanently inducted into positions of the classified service shall be during good behavior. However, the appointing authority may remove any employee from the service, or take such disciplinary action as the circumstances warrant in the manner provided below for any one of the following reasons:
(1) Unwillingness or failure to perform the duties of his position in a satisfactory manner.
* * *
(3) The commission or omission of any act to the prejudice of the departmental service or contrary to the public interest or policy.
* * *
(15) Any other act or failure to act which the board deems sufficient to show the offender to be an unsuitable or unfit person to be employed in the respective service.

The only statutory limitation on the Department's action is the following:

D. In every case of corrective or disciplinary action taken against a regular employee of the classified service, the appointing authority shall furnish the employee and the board a statement in *615

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Bluebook (online)
906 So. 2d 610, 2004 La.App. 1 Cir. 0057, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 297, 2005 WL 388104, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baton-rouge-police-dept-v-morrison-lactapp-2005.