Hill v. Com'n on Ethics for Public Employees

453 So. 2d 558, 1984 La. LEXIS 8987
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMay 14, 1984
Docket83-C-2611
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 453 So. 2d 558 (Hill v. Com'n on Ethics for Public Employees) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hill v. Com'n on Ethics for Public Employees, 453 So. 2d 558, 1984 La. LEXIS 8987 (La. 1984).

Opinion

453 So.2d 558 (1984)

Elgin D. HILL
v.
COMMISSION ON ETHICS FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES.

No. 83-C-2611.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

May 14, 1984.
Rehearing Denied June 14, 1984.

*559 Robert G. Pugh, Pugh & Pugh, Shreveport, for applicant.

R. Gray Sexton, Peter G. Wright, Baton Rouge, Commission on Ethics for Public Employees, for respondent.

WATSON, Justice.

Elgin D. Hill is a licensed cosmetologist and co-owner of a beauty salon, the R & E House of Beauty. She has served for the past twelve years as a member of the Louisiana Board of Cosmetology. In addition to serving on the state board, she is the only Louisiana member of the National Accredited Commission for the Cosmetology Arts and Sciences, an elective position, and has served on other national boards.

In Opinion No. 80-67, the Commission on Ethics for Public Employees directed Ms. Hill to either resign from the Louisiana Board of Cosmetology, or divest herself of her interest in the R & E House of Beauty. Upon her failure to accept one of those alternatives, it was ordered that she be removed from the board by the Governor. The court of appeal affirmed the decision of the Commission. 442 So.2d 592 (La.App. 1 Cir.1983). A writ was granted to review the order of the Commission and the judgment of the court of appeal. 444 So.2d 1217 (La.1984).

FACTS

Ms. Hill was appointed to the Louisiana Board of Cosmetology in 1972. At that time, she was a partner in a beauty school and a beauty salon. Since board members may not "... be connected directly or indirectly with the ownership of a school licensed in this state ...",[1] Ms. Hill divested herself of the school ownership in an exchange whereby her partner took over the school and Ms. Hill took over the beauty salon.

The members of the Board of Cosmetology include some at large members, and others like Ms. Hill who are appointed by the Governor to represent the congressional districts.[2] She is the member from the fourth congressional district, where her beauty salon is located.

The board employs no less than one inspector from each of the five public service commission districts,[3] and the board members representing congressional districts appoint inspectors with the approval of the Governor.[4] However, the inspectors are civil service employees of the state and beneficiaries of the protections offered by that status.[5] A board member has no authority to discharge an inspector.

In carrying out her duties, Ms. Hill has appointed an inspector, one E.J. Smithers, who to some extent works under her supervision. Although not Ms. Hill's personal choice, Smithers received the job because he had the highest score on the civil service examination. His primary duty is visiting beauty salons and completing inspection reports. These are brief documents which list only two categories of information concerning each "beauty shop" inspected, the first being proper registration and the second being sanitary conditions.

As summarized by Smithers, the inspector does the following:

*560 "I see that they have a booth operator's license current, a current cosmetology license; that they have wet and dry sterilizers at each station, that the floors are clean at each station; that their tools and roller implements are kept in sterile cabinets; that their dirty towels are in a covered container and their clean towels are in a closed container of sterile stuff." (Tr. 58)

Mr. Smithers, a licensed cosmetologist since 1962, testified that he inspects Ms. Hill's beauty salon about four or five times every two years; he has never received any complaints about that shop. While he inspects her salon, he indicated that it would be a simple matter for an inspector from a nearby district to substitute for him. It is customary for inspectors to work outside their districts.

Witnesses testified that Ms. Hill is universally regarded as an excellent board member; she discharges her duties thoroughly and efficiently; and there have never been any complaints to the board concerning Ms. Hill or her salon.

The Commission on Ethics, after holding a private hearing and then a public hearing at which five witnesses testified, made the following findings of fact:

"FINDINGS OF FACT

"1. Elgin Hill has served by gubernatorial appointment as a member of the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology from the Fourth Congressional District since 1972.
"2. Since that time, and to date, the Respondent has continued to own a controlling individual interest in, to manage and operate a beauty salon, known as `R & E House of Beauty,' and in connection with the management and ownership of that salon has periodically applied to and has been granted by the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology a Certificate of Registration.
"3. `R & E House of Beauty' is located at 1233 Milam Street in Shreveport, Louisiana within the Fourth Congressional District of the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology.
"4. Additionally, since 1972, Respondent has personally practiced as a cosmetologist and in connection with that practice has applied to the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology and has been granted a Certificate of Registration as a cosmetologist.
"5. Likewise, Respondent in her capacity as a licensed cosmetologist, operates a `booth' at the `R & E House of Beauty' and discharges her services within the jurisdiction of the Fourth Congressional District of the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology.
"6. As a full-time salaried member of the Board of Cosmetology, Respondent is required to and indeed does maintain a `district office' and has selected as an office for the duties she enjoys as a member of the Board of Cosmetology a facility in the building she owns at the location housing the `R & E House of Beauty.'
"7. There is one inspector employed by the Board of Cosmetology who is responsible for inspections and enforcement of the rules and regulations of the Board of Cosmetology within the Fourth Congressional District. The inspector in question periodically inspects the `R & E House of Beauty' as well as the `booth' of the Respondent in order to insure compliance with pertinent regulations of the Board.
"8. The inspector is subject to general as well as direct supervision by the Board member serving from the Fourth Congressional District in which he discharges his duties, i.e., the Respondent.
"9. Additionally, the inspector's performance evaluations, applications for merit, step, and other wage increases as well as certifications for leave and attendance are all made by the Respondent.
"10. Though the Respondent frequently accompanies the inspector during his routine inspections, she does not accompany the inspector whenever he is inspecting the `R & E House of Beauty' or the *561 `booth' maintained by the Respondent at the `R & E House of Beauty' and has never been present in the beauty salon at the time the inspections were made." (Tr. 11-12)

The Commission on Ethics concluded that "... both the letter and spirit of the Code prohibits ..." Ms. Hill from serving. Although the Commission was hard-pressed to state precisely the nature of the violation, it apparently rested on two facts: that Ms.

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Bluebook (online)
453 So. 2d 558, 1984 La. LEXIS 8987, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hill-v-comn-on-ethics-for-public-employees-la-1984.