Division of Admin. v. Dept. of Civil Service

345 So. 2d 67
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 13, 1976
Docket11059
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 345 So. 2d 67 (Division of Admin. v. Dept. of Civil Service) 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
Division of Admin. v. Dept. of Civil Service, 345 So. 2d 67 (La. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

345 So.2d 67 (1976)

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATION
v.
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE, State of Louisiana and the Civil Service Commission, State of Louisiana.

No. 11059.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

August 13, 1976.
Rehearing Denied March 21, 1977.

*68 Phil E. Miley, Baton Rouge, La., for Division of Administration.

R. Gray Sexton, Baton Rouge, La., for appellee.

Before LANDRY, COVINGTON and PONDER, JJ.

LANDRY, Judge.

The Division of Administration, Office of the Governor, through its Director, the Honorable Charles E. Roemer, (Applicant), invokes the supervisory jurisdiction of this court to stay an order of the Civil Service Commission, State of Louisiana, (Respondent), directing Applicant to bring into the classified service of the state (Civil Service) all employees of the Division of Administration other than the two (2) unclassified positions permitted by Article 10, Section 7, La.Const. of 1974. We grant the requested stay order.

Pursuant to its claimed authority, the Civil Service Commission, State of Louisiana, (Commission), instituted hearings to determine the civil service status of certain employees of the Division of Administration. On July 8, 1976, the Commission rendered an opinion decreeing that all employees of the Division of Administration, save the Commissioner and two employees, be brought into the Civil Service System, within forty-five days, in compliance with the Commission's rules and regulations. Applicant timely appealed. This application was filed August 5, 1976. The Commission's order becomes effective August 22, 1976.

Rule XVI, Section 6, Uniform Rules, Courts of Appeal, permits the Appellate Courts to stay a Commission ruling pending appeal. The sole issue before us at this time is whether the requested stay order should be issued pending the outcome of this controversy on appeal.

Due to the lack of controlling authority in our own jurisprudence pertaining to a stay of an Administrative order, both Applicant and Respondent cite and rely upon the often cited authority of Virginia Petroleum Jobbers Association v. Federal Power Commission, 104 U.S.App.D.C. 106, 259 F.2d 921 (1958), which sets forth what the Federal Jurisprudence has characterized as "traditional standards" applicable in cases of this nature. See Sampson v. Murray, 415 U.S. 61, 94 S.Ct. 937, 39 L.Ed. 166; Eastern Air Lines v. Civil Aeronautics Board, 261 F.2d 830 (2d Cir. 1958); Associated Securities Corp. v. SEC, 283 F.2d 773 (10th Cir. 1960); Schwartz v. Covington, 341 F.2d 537 (9th Cir. 1965); American Home Products Corporation v. Finch, 303 F.Supp. 448 (Dist.Del. 1969).

Virginia Petroleum Jobbers Association, above, involved an attempt to enjoin enforcement of an order of the Federal Power Commission rendered after administrative hearings. The court denied the application for the requested stay order, noting that the granting or denial of the requested relief must be determined in the light of the following applicable rule:

"We come, then, to a consideration of whether petitioner has shown sufficient grounds warranting the exercise of the court's powers to grant the extraordinary relief requested. Essentially, four factors influence our decision:
(1) Has the petitioner made a strong showing that it is likely to prevail on the merits of its appeal? Without such a substantial indication of probable success, there would be no justification for the *69 court's intrusion into the ordinary processes of administration and judicial review. (2) Has the petitioner shown that without such relief, it will be irreparably injured? The key word in this consideration is irreparable. Mere injuries, however substantial, in terms of money, time and energy necessarily expended in the absence of a stay, are not enough. The possibility that adequate compensatory or other corrective relief will be available at a later date, in the ordinary course of litigation, weighs heavily against a claim of irreparable harm. But injury held insufficient to justify a stay in one case may well be sufficient to justify it in another, where the applicant has demonstrated a higher probability of success on the merits. (3) Would the issuance of a stay substantially harm other parties interested in the proceedings? On this side of the coin, we must determine whether, despite showings of probable success and irreparable injury on the part of petitioner, the issuance of a stay would have a serious adverse effect on other interested persons. Relief saving one claimant from irreparable injury, at the expense of similar harm caused another, might not qualify as the equitable judgment that a stay represents. (4) Where lies the public interest? In litigation involving the administration of regulatory statutes designed to promote the public interest, this factor necessarily becomes crucial. The interests of private litigants must give way to the realization of public purposes. The public interest may, of course, have many faces—favoring at once both the rapid expansion of utilities and the prevention of wasteful and repetitive proceedings at the taxpayers' or consumers' expense; both fostering competition and preserving the economic viability of existing public services; both expediting administrative or judicial action and preserving orderly procedure. We must determine, these many facets considered, how the court's action serves the public best." (Emphasis in original).

It also appears that Federal Jurisprudence has adopted the rule that in matters of this nature much discretion is vested in the Appellate Court. In Scripps-Howard Radio, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, 316 U.S. 4, 62 S.Ct. 875, 86 L.Ed. 1229, the question of granting a stay order to a party seeking judicial review of an F.C.C. order was before the Court. In affirming the Court of Appeal's certificate on the stay order, the Supreme Court stated:

"A stay is not a matter of right, even if irreparable injury might otherwise result to the appellant (cases cited). It is an exercise of judicial discretion. The propriety of its issue is dependent upon the circumstances of the particular case."

See also 73 C.J.S. Public Administrative Bodies and Procedure, § 180, pages 526-527.

We deem both of the cited rules to be logical and founded upon reasonable principles. In the absence of jurisprudence of our own on the subject matter, we adopt these rules and apply them herein.

Considering the likelihood of Applicant prevailing upon appeal, we note that Applicant raises a serious issue predicated upon Article 10, Section 2(B), La. Constitution of 1974, which provides that the unclassified state and city civil service systems shall include:

"10. employees, deputies, and officers of the legislature and of the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general . . .."

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In re Witco Chemical Corp.
543 So. 2d 59 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1989)
In re BASF Corp.
543 So. 2d 61 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1989)
In re Rubicon Inc.
543 So. 2d 63 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1989)
Summers v. Sutton
428 So. 2d 1121 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1983)
Public Employment Relations Board v. Stohr
279 N.W.2d 286 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
345 So. 2d 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/division-of-admin-v-dept-of-civil-service-lactapp-1976.