Kaplan v. Allegheny County Commissioners

45 Pa. D. & C.3d 396, 1986 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 124
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Alleghany County
DecidedJanuary 23, 1986
Docketno. GD-85-12372
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 45 Pa. D. & C.3d 396 (Kaplan v. Allegheny County Commissioners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Alleghany County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kaplan v. Allegheny County Commissioners, 45 Pa. D. & C.3d 396, 1986 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 124 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1986).

Opinion

NARICK, A.J.,

In this mandamus action, plaintiff, Judge Lawrence W. Kaplan, seeks to compel defendants1 to refrain from imposing the Allegheny County Commissioners’ compulsory retirement policy requiring all county employees, including Judge Kaplan’s tipstaff, Austin F. Lacy to retire upon reaching the age of 70. At the center of this case is a dispute between the commissioners in carrying out their legislative and executive responsibilities, and a judge’s judicial responsibilities, including the right to supervise, discharge and hire court-appointed employees.

ISSUES

The parties have stipulated to the facts and have agreed to submit the following issues herein as a case stated:

(1) whether original jurisdiction rests with the Commonwealth Court;

(2) whether this case should be referred to an out-of-county judge if it is determined that there is concurrent jurisdiction in Commonwealth Court and the court of common pleas; and

(3) plaintiffs motion for peremptory judgment.

[398]*398PREFATORY STATEMENT

At the outset we note that court personnel of the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, including Lacy, are county employees. Further, we find the commissioners clearly have the right to provide a retirement system for all county employees. The commissioners have the right to impose a reasonable, fair, uniform, mandatory retirement age. Such mandatory retirement ages have been upheld by the courts. Delvitto v. Shope, 17 Pa. Commw. 436, 333 A.2d 204 (1975); McIlwaine v. Pa. State Police, 6 Pa. Commw. 505, 296 A.2d 630 (1972), affirmed 454 Pa. 129, 309 A.2d 801 (1973), appeal dismissed 415 U.S. 986, 94 S.Ct. 1583, 39 L.Ed.2d 884 (1974). In Soltis Appeal, 390 Pa. 416, 135 A.2d 744 (1957), a unanimous Supreme Court upheld an ordinance of the city of Duquesne in Allegheny County providing for mandatory retirement of city employees at age 70. The conflict, however, between such a mandatory retirement age and the power of the judges to hire, fire, discipline and set the working conditions for the court-appointed employees is the basic issue before us. We are unaware that any óf our appellate courts have previously ruled on this conflict. Thus, this is an issue of first impression.

We limit our decision only to the application of the mandatory retirement policy to and as it affects a member of Judge Kaplan’s personal staff. We make no decision herein whether the application of the mandatory retirement policy to court-appointed employees other than a judge’s personal staff (secretary, tipstaff, law clerk) would be a violation of the inherent powers of the judiciary and the separation of powers doctrine of the Pennsylvania Constitution.

We find for the reasons set forth below that the application of the mandatory retirement age to [399]*399Lacy, a full-time court employee, concerns the hiring, discharge, supervision, and regulation of him. Therefore, to apply the mandatory retirement age promulgated by the commissioners to Lacy over the opposition of Judge Kaplan is a violation of the separation of powers doctrine of the Pennsylvania Constitution and statutory law.

FACTS

The stipulated facts are as follows: Lacy has been a tipstaff for Judge Kaplan since June 30, 1978. Lacy, a 25-year county employee, has been employed as a tipstaff in several offices since March 31, 1961, and at all times since then has received compensation from the county treasury and has been covered by the county pension system. The commissioners on July 11, 1985, in the exercise of their legislative responsibilities, approved the recommendation of the county salary board’s mandatory retirement policy, which provided that “. . .all county employees shall be required to retire at age 70, effective July 22, 1985. ...” The policy provides for exceptions, permitting certain employees'to gain additional years for vesting purposes.

Lacy turned 71 on July 22, 1985, the effective date of the mandatory retirement policy. Judge Kaplan desires to retain Lacy as his tipstaff and has requested that the mandatory retirement policy not apply to Lacy. The commissioners and the salary board directed that the policy be applied to Lacy since he is a county employee and accordingly they have removed him from the payroll of Allegheny County. It is undisputed that Lacy now as in the past is a loyal, diligent and competent member of Judge Kaplan’s staff.

[400]*400On April 12, 1985, President Judge O’Malley entered an order which stated that all court employees would be subject to the mandatory retirement policy. On May 2, 1985, the board of judges voted 13-3 that Judge O’Malley’s order of April 12 be, amended so as to exclude the personal staffs of the judges from the mandatory retirement policy. Thereafter the president judge wrote to each judge and asked them to indicate their position with respect to whether the personal staffs should be excluded from the mandatory retirement order. The written responses showed 15 judges in opposition to excluding personal staffs, and 15 judges approving excluding personal staffs. Neither a majority of the judges in the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, nor a majority of the judges voting, indicated support for excluding or including personal staffs from'the mandatory retirement policy. Based thereon, President Judge O’Malley decided not to amend his original order of April 12, 1985.

At this point we address the revelance, if any, of the above meetings and voting by the judges to the issue before this court. From our review of the basic issue herein, we find that the voting by judges did not rise up to or constitute a judicial resolution of the issue before this court. The voting was nothing more than an expression, and not a clear or conclu- . sive one at that, for or against the mandatory retirement policy. Accordingly, the voting of the judges and the orders of Judge O’Malley are neither supportive of or against the said policy. Therefore, it is not binding or controlling on this court in making its judicial decision herein.

JURISDICTION

For the reasons set forth herein we dismiss the defendants’ preliminary objection claiming that the exclusive original jurisdiction was in the Common[401]*401wealth Court. The defendants rely on section 761 of the Judicial Code, act of July 9, 1976, P.L. 586, as amended, 42 Pa.C.S. §761(a)(l) and (a)(2):

“(a) General rule. The Commonwealth Court shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions or proceedings:
“(1) Against the commonwealth government, including any officer thereof, acting in his official capacity, ....
“(2) By the commonwealth government, including any officer thereof, acting in his official capacity,

. . . .” (emphasis added).

Plaintiff, on the other hand, contends that under section 761(b), which reads:

“(b) Concurrent and exclusive jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of the’ Commonwealth Court under subsection (a) shall be exclusive . . . except with respect to actions or proceedings by the commonwealth government, including any officer thereof, acting in his official capacity,

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

Related

United States v. Seefried
District of Columbia, 2022

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
45 Pa. D. & C.3d 396, 1986 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 124, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kaplan-v-allegheny-county-commissioners-pactcomplallegh-1986.