Heier v. North Dakota Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation

2012 ND 171, 820 N.W.2d 394, 2012 WL 3536428, 2012 N.D. LEXIS 168, 115 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1445
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 16, 2012
DocketNo. 20120128
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2012 ND 171 (Heier v. North Dakota Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Heier v. North Dakota Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, 2012 ND 171, 820 N.W.2d 394, 2012 WL 3536428, 2012 N.D. LEXIS 168, 115 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1445 (N.D. 2012).

Opinions

KAPSNER, Justice.

[¶ 1] Robert Heier appeals from a district court judgment affirming an administrative law judge’s (“ALJ”) decision affirming the termination of Heier’s employment with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. We reverse, concluding Heier was unlawfully disciplined multiple times for one instance of misconduct, and we order Heier be reinstated and receive backpay.

I

[¶ 2] Heier was employed by the Department as a deputy warden in the Division of Adult Services at the North Dakota State Penitentiary. On April 28, 2009, Jessica Rahn, a State Penitentiary employee, filed a written complaint with her supervisor, alleging that Heier inappropriately grabbed her buttocks at a concert outside of work on April 18, 2009, and that Heier said, “Tell anyone and you’ll loose [sic] your job.” Rahn’s supervisor reported the incident to Timothy Schuetzle, the State Penitentiary warden, and Larry Tice, a human resource officer. Leann Bertsch, the Department director, Warren Emmer, the adult services director, and Tracy Stein, the Department human resource director, were also informed of the incident.

[¶ 3] Schuetzle spoke with Heier about the allegations. On May 6, 2009, Schuetzle sent Heier a letter, advising Heier of the Department’s intent to take disciplinary action based on Rahn’s allegations that Heier grabbed her buttocks and that Heier said she would lose her job if she told anyone about his actions. On May 7, 2009, Heier filed a written response, stating, “I honestly do not remember saying anything to the employee about losing her job of [sic] she told anyone of my inappropriate actions. I was inebriated at the time and if the employee claims I said this I cannot honestly deny it. I will take whatever punishment is recommend [sic] and assure you this type of behavior will never happen again.” After receiving Heier’s response, Schuetzle sent Heier a final action notice, informed Heier of the final decision to take disciplinary action for the April 18, 2009, incident and stated:

In your response you state that you do not remember saying anything to the employee but then say that you could have said this and you will take the punishment for it. Similarly, you state that you did grab the buttocks of the employee and that you will take any recommended punishment.
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[397]*397Based on this information, a decision has been made to suspend you without pay for a period of 1 day. This day will be designated as May 18, 2009. Any further violations of this nature may result in further disciplinary action up to and including termination.

The letter also advised Heier of his right to appeal the decision. Heier did not appeal Schuetzle’s decision.

[¶ 4] On July 9, 2009, Stein sent Heier a letter advising him that he would not receive a general and equity pay increase because the Department decided that employees who were suspended from work after March 1, 2009, did not qualify for the pay increase.

[¶ 5] On August 26, 2009, Bertsch sent a memo to Department supervisors and managers, which was later distributed to all employees, directing staff to review the Department’s sexual harassment policy. A memo was also sent to employees stating, “Staff that believe that any grievance related to the noted behaviors has not been adequately addressed by their supervisor are encouraged to contact their Division Deputy Director and/or their Director and/or the Director of Corrections and request that they review the circumstances related to the grievance.” On August 27, 2009, Rahn sent Emmer a letter in response to the sexual harassment policy memo, stating she felt Heier’s discipline following the April 18, 2009, incident was not sufficient or consistent with the Department’s policy. The letter included Rahn’s allegations that Heier threatened that she would lose her job if she told anyone about his conduct. Bertsch was informed of Rahn’s letter.

[¶ 6] On August 31, 2009, Bertsch sent Heier a letter informing him that she was placing him on administrative leave pending an investigation into allegations he committed unwanted behavior or made threatening remarks to a female employee. Heier was interviewed about the incident on September 3, 2009. On September 10, 2009, Emmer sent Heier a letter advising him the Department intended to take disciplinary action for the April 18, 2009, incident involving Rahn. The letter stated Heier had been previously disciplined for the incident, but “[m]ore information has surfaced indicating more severe punishment may be warranted. For example, while your threat of retaliation initially could not be substantiated, you recently admitted threatening the employee with termination if she reported the incident.”

[¶ 7] On September 15, 2009, Heier sent Emmer a letter stating he admitted to Schuetzle that he might have made the alleged threats, he was disciplined for touching and making all of the alleged statements, Schuetzle was fully aware of all of the allegations, there are not any new allegations, and he was disciplined for all of the alleged misconduct. Heier also alleged he was disciplined a second time in July 2009 when he did not receive an increase in pay due to the prior disciplinary action.

[¶ 8] On September 18, 2009, Emmer sent Heier a letter informing Heier he had completed a review of the incident and found Heier was not truthful when he was initially questioned about the April 18, 2009, incident, Heier continued to lie about the incident until September 2009, when he admitted he threatened Rahn’s job, Heier’s conduct violated Department policies, and Heier’s employment was being terminated. The letter advised Heier he could appeal the decision through an internal grievance procedure.

[¶ 9] On September 23, 2009, Heier filed an internal employee grievance appealing the termination of his employment. On September 30, 2009, Bertsch denied Heier’s grievance and upheld the termi[398]*398nation of his employment, stating Heier’s employment was terminated because he sexually harassed a female employee and not for his dishonesty during the original questioning, Heier was not disciplined initially for threatening Rahn’s job, and the facts support the decision to terminate Heier’s employment.

[¶ 10] In October 2009, Heier filed an appeal with Human Resources Management Services, arguing there was not cause to terminate his employment and he was disciplined three times for a single instance of misconduct. A hearing on Heier’s appeal was held before an ALJ in April 2010. In October 2010, the ALJ affirmed the termination of Heier’s employment.

[¶ 11] Heier appealed the ALJ’s decision to the district court. The ALJ notified the parties that a transcript could not be made of the hearing due to technical problems with the recordings. The Department moved for remand to the ALJ for the creation of a replacement record. The district court ordered the appeal be “remanded to the administrative agency directing the ALJ to oversee the creation of a record that is sufficient to replace evidence lost when the original recording failed.”

[¶ 12] On remand, the ALJ reviewed her notes from the hearing and affidavits from Bertsch, Schuetzle, and Emmer, the three witnesses that testified at the original hearing. The ALJ notified the parties that she wanted to hold a hearing to recreate the record of testimony from the previous hearing and that no new evidence or testimony would be allowed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 ND 171, 820 N.W.2d 394, 2012 WL 3536428, 2012 N.D. LEXIS 168, 115 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1445, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/heier-v-north-dakota-department-of-corrections-rehabilitation-nd-2012.