Player v. Village of Bensenville

722 N.E.2d 792, 309 Ill. App. 3d 532
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 30, 1999
Docket2-98-1549
StatusPublished

This text of 722 N.E.2d 792 (Player v. Village of Bensenville) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Player v. Village of Bensenville, 722 N.E.2d 792, 309 Ill. App. 3d 532 (Ill. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE BOWMAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Pro se plaintiff, James Player, appeals from the trial court’s dismissal of his complaint against defendants, Village of Bensenville (Village) and Bensenville Elementary School District No. 2 (District), with prejudice, pursuant to section 2 — 615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2 — 615 (West 1998)). Plaintiff filed a timely notice of appeal. This court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 303 (155 Ill. 2d R. 303).

On appeal, plaintiff argues that (1) the clerk of the circuit court improperly designated his case as an “administrative review” action rather than a “miscellaneous remedies” action; (2) the trial court improperly denied his request for oral argument on defendants’ motions to dismiss the complaint; (3) the trial court erroneously construed the law pertaining to hiring preferences for veterans; (4) the trial court improperly denied plaintiff’s motion for a court-appointed attorney; (5) the trial court erred in allowing the Village to proceed with its motion to dismiss after it had earlier been defaulted; (6) the defendants unlawfully performed their duties during the hiring process for the position for which plaintiff applied; (7) the intergovernmental agreement between defendants was invalid; and (8) the manner and sequence in which the trial court ruled on the parties’ motions were erroneous. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

Plaintiff filed a complaint against the Village and the District on July 29, 1998. He alleged that in June 1998 he applied for the position of “Redmond Park Coordinator-Physical Education Teacher,” which came about through an intergovernmental agreement between the Village and the District. Plaintiff further alleged that he was a “qualified veteran and qualified teacher.” Plaintiff claimed that he was entitled to an absolute hiring preference for the position by virtue of his veteran status. He further claimed that the manager and assistant manager for the Village denied him his rights by refusing to interview him for the position.

Plaintiff alleged that the District was responsible for paying the salary and benefits associated with the position and that it too failed to recognize plaintiffs right to an absolute hiring preference. In his prayer for relief, plaintiff requested that he be appointed to the position he applied for and that he be granted back pay, full benefits, and $100,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.

In response to the complaint, the District filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to section 2 — 615, arguing that plaintiff could not state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The Village sought leave to and did file a motion to dismiss but later joined in the District’s motion to dismiss.

Plaintiff filed numerous motions, including a motion to strike the Village’s motion to dismiss, a “Motion to Deny Defendant’s, Village of Bensenville, Motions to Vacate and Re-Notice of Motion to Dismiss My Case,” a “motion to deny” the District’s motion to dismiss, and a motion for a court-appointed attorney. Plaintiff also filed responses to both the District’s and the Village’s motions to dismiss, which were titled “motions to respond.” All of plaintiff’s motions were fully briefed.

On November 6, 1998, the trial court entered an order that read as follows, in relevant part:

“1. Defendant Village’s motion to vacate defaults is granted to the extent that any defaults existed;
2. Defendant Village is granted leave to file its appearance, instanter;
3. Plaintiffs motion for a court-appointed attorney is denied;
4. Defendant School District’s 2 — 615 motion to dismiss is granted, and this case is hereby dismissed with, prejudice;
5. Defendant Village’s motion to join in the School District’s motion to dismiss is granted, and this case is hereby dismissed with prejudice as to the Village as well;
6. All future court dates in this case are hereby stricken.”

We first address what we perceive to be the principal issue in this appeal: whether, in ruling that plaintiff could not state a claim upon which relief could be granted, the trial court correctly construed the applicable law pertaining to hiring preferences for veterans. In determining whether to grant a motion to dismiss, a court must take as true all well-pleaded allegations of fact contained in the complaint and construe all reasonable inferences therefrom in favor of the plaintiff. Vernon v. Schuster, 179 Ill. 2d 338, 341 (1997). The court must determine whether the allegations in the complaint, when viewed in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, are sufficient to state a cause of action upon which relief may be granted. Vernon, 179 Ill. 2d at 344. A cause of action should not be dismissed on the pleadings unless it clearly appears that no set of facts can be proved that will entitle the plaintiff to recover. Vernon, 179 Ill. 2d at 344. Because the trial court is not required to weigh facts or determine credibility when deciding a motion to dismiss, our review is de novo. Vernon, 179 Ill. 2d at 344.

Plaintiff claims that, because he is a veteran, he was entitled to an absolute hiring preference for the position for which he applied. He cites Denton v. Civil Service Comm’n, 176 Ill. 2d 144 (1997), Personnel Administrator v. Feeney, 442 U.S. 256, 60 L. Ed. 2d 870, 99 S. Ct. 2282 (1979), and the Veterans’ Preference Act of 1944, ch. 287, 58 Stat. 387 (codified, as amended, in scattered sections of 5 U.S.C.A. (West 1996)), as the sources of the absolute preference. Defendants argue that none of these authorities bestow such a preference upon plaintiff for the position at issue and that no such preference applies to the position plaintiff sought. We agree with defendants.

We begin by noting that most states, as well as the federal government, give some sort of hiring preference to veterans. Feeney, 442 U.S. at 261, 60 L. Ed. 2d at 876, 99 S. Ct. at 2287. The federal government and most states award veterans additional points on civil service examinations. Feeney, 442 U.S. at 261 n.7, 60 L. Ed. 2d at 876 n.7, 99 S. Ct. at 2287 n.7. Other states will give a veteran a preference over a nonveteran in the case of a tie score. Feeney, 442 U.S. at 261 n.7, 60 L. Ed. 2d at 876 n.7, 99 S. Ct. at 2287 n.7. A few states give “absolute” preferences by ranking all veterans over all nonveterans. Feeney, 442 U.S. at 261 n.7, 60 L. Ed. 2d at 876-77 n.7, 99 S. Ct. at 2287 n.7.

In Illinois, the legislature has incorporated a veteran’s hiring preference in section 8b.7 of the Personnel Code (20 ILCS 415/8b.7 (West 1998)). The Personnel Code applies to “[a]ll offices and positions of employment in the service of the State of Illinois” (20 ILCS 415/4

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Manigault v. Springs
199 U.S. 473 (Supreme Court, 1905)
Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney
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Denton v. CIVIL SERVICE COM'N OF STATE
679 N.E.2d 1234 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1997)
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722 N.E.2d 792, 309 Ill. App. 3d 532, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/player-v-village-of-bensenville-illappct-1999.