Matherly v. Allen

194 P.2d 18, 86 Cal. App. 2d 95, 1948 Cal. App. LEXIS 1589
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 9, 1948
DocketCiv. No. 16064
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 194 P.2d 18 (Matherly v. Allen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matherly v. Allen, 194 P.2d 18, 86 Cal. App. 2d 95, 1948 Cal. App. LEXIS 1589 (Cal. Ct. App. 1948).

Opinion

SHINN, Acting P. J.

Plaintiff brought this action on his own behalf and on behalf of others alleged to be similarly situated against Wayne R. Allen, county manager of Los Angeles County, and other county officers, seeking a declaration that he is a permanent employee of a county fire protection district, subject to discharge only in the manner provided by the county charter for the discharge of permanent county employees in the civil service. The judgment declared: “That plaintiff and all others similarly situated are not employees of the County of Los Angeles, but are employees holding temporary positions in one or another of the county fire protection [96]*96districts in Los Angeles County; that the employment of plaintiff and all others similarly situated may be terminated at any time, and plaintiff and others similarly situated separated from such temporary positions; that plaintiff and all others similarly situated have not obtained or acquired the status of permanent employees holding permanent positions in either the service of the County of Los Angeles or in any of the county fire protection districts of the County of Los Angeles. ’ ’ Plaintiff appeals.

On June 29, 1944, plaintiff was employed as a fireman by the Lomita County Fire Protection District of the County of Los Angeles, a public corporation organized and existing under the provisions of division 12, part 3, chapter 2, articles 1-13, inclusive, of the Health and Safety Code. He served as a fireman in that district and in others to which he was assigned until he received notice of discharge from his employment on or about October 1, 1946. Under the authority of section 14446 et seq., Health and Safety Code, employees of the several county fire protection districts were by resolution of the board of supervisors, adopted February 20, 1940, brought under the civil service provisions of the county charter and the rules, regulations and procedures of the Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission. On July 3, 1944, the board of supervisors, as the governing board of the Lomita County Fire Protection District, adopted a resolution which specified the number of permanent positions in said district as well as in other districts, as “captains . . . firemen” etc., and also provided that the county forester or fire warden was allowed additional temporary positions equal to the number of employees specified in the resolution. The resolution continued as follows: “provided, however, that persons may be appointed to any such temporary or as needed position only for the duration of the national emergency and for six months thereafter. Persons appointed to such positions shall not be deemed to be holding permanent positions, and by reason of any such employment shall not thereby acquire classified civil service status as permanent employees of the District. 16.2 Persons appointed to any such temporary or as needed positions may be separated from such temporary or as needed positions at any time. . . . 16.4 All of the temporary or as needed duration-of-national-emergency positions provided for by this section shall terminate six (6) months after the present national emergency shall have ended. ’ ’ Authority for the [97]*97action evidenced by the quoted provision is found in the county charter. In 1941, subdivision 10 of section 34, article 9 of the charter was amended so as to make it the duty of the civil service commission to adopt rules designed for the protection in their positions of permanent civil service employees who were absent from their positions while in the armed services of the United States. The amendment provided for reinstatement of such returned absentees to the positions, status, seniority and efficiency ratings in the positions which they held at the time of entry into the armed service, and further provided: “ ‘All persons appointed or transferred to fill such positions and all other persons appointed or transferred to other positions by reason thereof shall be deemed to be substitute employees and, notwithstanding any other provision of this charter, such substitute employees may be separated from such positions at any time unless they held positions subject to the provisions of this article immediately prior to appointment or transfer as substitute employees, in which event, and notwithstanding any other provision of this charter, they shall be reinstated without loss of status or seniority to the permanent positions which they held immediately prior to their first appointment or transfer as such substitute employees or to positions of like seniority and status, unless in the meantime such positions shall have been abolished. The Civil Service Commission shall conduct such examinations and promulgate such eligible lists of substitute employees as shall be necessary to carry this paragraph into effect. In the absence of any such list, substitute employees may be employed in the manner authorized for temporary employees as provided in paragraph (9) of Section 34 of this Article.’ ” (Stats. 1941, ch. 2, Resolutions, pp. 3235 at 3237.) The civil service commission adopted rules under the heading “Special Provisions during National Emergency,” providing for the establishment of registers or eligible lists under simplified procedures and examinations “for the recruitment of persons for temporary service only for the duration of the war or national emergency, as follows: . . . C. A ‘competitive-temporary’ eligible list may be established and maintained for any class of positions as the needs of the service require. Names of persons who have qualified by an open-competitive examination shall be placed on ‘competitive-temporary’ eligible lists in the order of their standing in examination, and appointments shall be made [98]*98from one of the three persons standing highest on such eligible lists.” For the reason that it was impossible on account of conditions due to the war to fill positions in the fire protection service, and in other services, with employees who could meet the strict requirements for admission into the civil service under normal conditions, a simplified procedure was adopted for the selection of temporary employees under which applicants could take an examination at the time they filed their applications, and if they passed, be given immediate employment. This procedure pertained exclusively to temporary employment and the requirements with respect to examination and qualification for permanent employment were not changed. Plaintiff took and passed only the examination for such temporary substitute employment. Nothing in the charter or the rules of the civil service commission authorizes the appointment to a permanent position or on a permanent basis of an employee who has passed only this special simplified examination for temporary employment.

In March, 1944, bulletins were issued by the civil service commission inviting applications for employment as firemen and the preparation of a “competitive-temporary” eligible list to be used “for temporary and substitute work, some of which may last for the duration of the war or national emergency.” Plaintiff filed his application June 26, 1944, and was appointed three days thereafter.

Appellant contends that he is a permanent employee. He refers to the term he has served under his appointment and relies principally upon McGillicuddy v. Civil Service Commission, 133 Cal.App. 782 [24 P.2d 942], as supporting his position. A mere recitation of the facts of the McGillicuddy case distinguishes it from our case.

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Bluebook (online)
194 P.2d 18, 86 Cal. App. 2d 95, 1948 Cal. App. LEXIS 1589, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matherly-v-allen-calctapp-1948.