Cormier v. Board of Institutions, State Department of Institutions

230 So. 2d 307, 1969 La. App. LEXIS 5694
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 22, 1969
DocketNo. 7802
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 230 So. 2d 307 (Cormier v. Board of Institutions, State Department of Institutions) 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
Cormier v. Board of Institutions, State Department of Institutions, 230 So. 2d 307, 1969 La. App. LEXIS 5694 (La. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

LANDRY, Judge.

This appeal by the Board of Institutions, State Department of Institutions (Board), is from the decision of the Louisiana Civil Service Commission (Commission) ordering plaintiff, Warren A. Cormier, a classified service employee, reinstated as Superintendent of the Louisiana Correctional and Industrial School at DeQuincy, Louisiana (School), an institution subject to the Board’s supervisory and appointive power. The Commission also ordered full restoration of all rights and privileges of the position. We are in accord with the decision of the Commission and affirm the decree rendered.

Narration of certain background information will afford a clearer understanding of the issues involved.

For some time prior to January 17, 1967, Cormier was employed by the Board as Superintendent of the School. It is conceded his administration of the institution was efficient and proper in every respect. On the above stated date, however, Cormier was demoted by the Board for alleged failure to carry out the Board’s announced policy regarding installation of a Plasmapheresis Program at the School. On January 20, 1967, Cormier was discharged for failure to report for duty at the Women’s Reformatory, St. Gabriel, Louisiana, to which institution he was transferred by the Board. On appeal of his dismissal, Cor-mier was reinstated as the result of a Commission hearing held March 7 and 8, 1967. On the Board’s appeal to this court, the reinstatement was affirmed by decision of this court rendered January 29, 1968. Cormier v. Louisiana State Penitentiary, State Department of Institutions, 206 So.2d 771. On May 12, 1967, Cormier was again dismissed for allegedly inflicting corporal punishment upon inmates of the School and using state property and funds for his own personal use. This latter dismissal was affirmed by the Commission from whose adverse ruling Cormier appealed. This court, in a judgment rendered July 1, [309]*3091968, reversed the Commission’s affirmation of Cormier’s dismissal and remanded the matter to the Commission for further proceedings. See Cormier v. State Department of Institutions, Louisiana Correctional and Industrial School, 212 So.2d 143. In remanding this matter to the Commission, we directed that body to permit the discharged employee an opportunity to present evidence to prove his contention his dismissal was not predicated upon the charges set forth in the letter of May 12, 1967, but rather was based on improper motives. Upon remand the Commission held appellee’s dismissal was in fact motivated by considerations other than his alleged violation of the School’s anti-corporal punishment rule. In essence the Commission found that George Cockerham, a Board member, utilized “stale” charges of rules violations, which Cockerham and the Board considered inconsequential and immaterial when they occurred, as a ruse to conceal Cormier’s discharge for reasons which made Cormier personally objectionable to Cockerham.

The Board maintains the Commission erred in reinstating plaintiff because (1) the Commission inconsistently held the charges were “stale” notwithstanding its finding that the charges were valid ground for dismissal; (2) procedurally the Commission conducted a hearing on remand which amounted to the granting of a rehearing in violation of the Commission’s own rules, and (3) the record contains no basis for the conclusion that the dismissal in question was motivated by considerations other than the charges of alleged corporal punishment.

The pivotal issue in this matter is not whether the charges of alleged use of corporal punishment were “stale” but whether the dismissal was actually founded on these charges or upon personal and political reasons as contended by appellee. It is well settled that a classified employee may not be discriminated against or subjected to disciplinary action because of political or religious reasons. La. Const. Article 14, Section 15(A) (1) and N(1), (2) and (6); King v. Department of Public Safety, 234 La. 409, 100 So.2d 217; Bonnette v. Louisiana State Penitentiary, etc., 148 So.2d 92.

Appellant’s claim of procedural error on the Commission’s part is without foundation. Rule 13.33 of the Civil Service Rules and Regulations adopted by the Commission provide that no rehearing shall be granted from a final decision of the Commission. In the Cormier Case, reported at 212 So.2d 143, this court expressly remanded this matter to the Commission for the taking of evidence regarding the alleged disguised motives of the Board in ordering Cormier’s discharge which evidence the Commission had declined to hear contrary to the ruling in King, above. The remand and second hearing by the Commission was not a rehearing granted by the Commission on its own authority. The “second” hearing before the Commission was in effect a completion of the first hearing to place before the Commission evidence relevant to an issue properly- raised by the discharged employee.

Findings of fact by the Commission are binding upon the courts on appeal from the Commission’s rulings. La.Const. Article 14, Section 15(O) (1); Higgins v. Louisiana State Penitentiary, Department of Institutions, 245 La. 1009, 162 So.2d 343. However, such factual determinations must be supported by some evidence of record. Louviere v. Pontchartrain Levee Dist., La.App., 199 So.2d 392.

There is no inconsistency between the Commission finding that Cormier was discharged for political reasons and its former ruling that the charges of inflicting corporal punishment was cause for dismissal. The prior ruling was made on an incomplete record. When the matter was remanded, the Commission, after hearing all the testimony, concluded in essence that while the charges were ground for dismissal, the conduct had been condoned and the [310]*310basis for the discharge was not the rules violation hut political motivation.

The remaining question is simply whether there is any evidence in the record supporting the Commission’s finding that the discharge resulted from prohibited political motivation. Suire v. Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology, La.App., 224 So.2d 7.

Cormier testified that his relationship with Cockerham remained cordial until Cormier declined certain requests made by Cockerham. The friendship began to wane when Cormier refused Cockerham’s request for a two-way radio for Cockerham’s personally owned automobile at the School’s expense. Cormier also testified that he declined Cockerham’s requests for meat and vegetables from the School’s larder. In addition, Cormier testified he refused to paint and repair Cockerham’s personally owned truck using the School’s materials and labor. Cormier stated that when the incidents of corporal punishment arose, Cockerham was fully apprised thereof. The clear import of Cormier’s testimony is that Cockerham assured Cormier the incidents were of no particular consequence and that no disciplinary action would result therefrom. He also stated it was clear to him that the “old” charges were revived by Cockerham because of his, Cormier’s repeated refusal to accede to demands which Cormier considered illegal and unethical.

Mr. Cockerham testified that he was personally opposed to Cormier’s employment at the School. He conceded he voted to oust Cormier. Cockerham also acknowledged that the Board gave considerable weight to his recommendations regarding the affairs of the School. Cockerham denied making any requests of the nature detailed by Cormier. He did, however, acknowledge that he had requested a two-way radio for his personal car from former Director of Institutions, Wingate White.

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Bluebook (online)
230 So. 2d 307, 1969 La. App. LEXIS 5694, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cormier-v-board-of-institutions-state-department-of-institutions-lactapp-1969.