Southern Union State v. Salatto, 2091201 (ala.civ.app. 10-7-2011)

96 So. 3d 108, 2011 WL 4790634, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 269
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedOctober 7, 2011
Docket2091201
StatusPublished

This text of 96 So. 3d 108 (Southern Union State v. Salatto, 2091201 (ala.civ.app. 10-7-2011)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Southern Union State v. Salatto, 2091201 (ala.civ.app. 10-7-2011), 96 So. 3d 108, 2011 WL 4790634, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 269 (Ala. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

PITTMAN, Judge.

These appeals arise from a judgment entered by the Montgomery Circuit Court concerning the legality of the removal of Susan Salatto from the office of president of Southern Union State Community College (“Southern Union”).

On January 24, 2008, the Alabama State Board of Education (“the Board”) voted to remove Salatto from the office of president of Southern Union over the objection of her counsel, who contended that the removal could not validly occur except under the authority of, and consistent with the terms of, the Fair Dismissal Act, § 36-26-100 et seq., Ala.Code 1975 (“the FDA”). Salatto simultaneously initiated administrative proceedings and a civil action seeking review of the propriety of her removal from office, and she also sought administrative review of Southern Union’s election to treat as ended Salatto’s previous employment at that institution. The two administrative proceedings were consolidated into one proceeding, after which Southern Union and the Board sought dismissal on the claimed bases that the FDA did not apply to Salatto’s employment as president of Southern Union or to her former employment by Southern Union as a dean; those parties also sought a stay of the administrative proceedings pending the outcome of the civil action. The administrative law judge who had been assigned Salatto’s administrative proceedings issued an order on May 23, 2008, declaring that Salatto’s removal as president violated the FDA and that, alternatively, she was entitled to return to work in a previous position that she had held at Southern Union.

The Board, Southern Union, and Southern Union’s president then sought review of the administrative decision in the Montgomery Circuit Court by asserting claims in Salatto’s pending civil action, and those parties also sought a stay of the administrative law judge’s order (which request was denied by the circuit court).1 Salatto filed a motion seeking a summary judgment in her favor as to her claims and a judgment on the pleadings in her favor as to the counterclaims of the other parties (who opposed Salatto’s motion). On August 24, 2010, the circuit court entered a judgment upholding the decision of the administrative law judge and ordered implementation of that decision, and it denied all other relief sought by the parties.

Southern Union, the Board, and Southern Union’s president have appealed from the circuit court’s judgment upholding the decision of the administrative law judge. [111]*111Although Salatto has cross-appealed, she does not argue in her brief on appeal that the circuit court’s judgment in her favor was erroneous or adversely affected her interests, and it is well settled that dismissal is appropriate in such circumstances. See Ex parte Jefferson Cnty. Sheriff’s Dep't, 13 So.3d 993, 996 (Ala.Civ.App.2009).

The central issue raised by the parties in this case is whether Salatto’s dismissal as president of Southern Union is governed by the FDA such that she is entitled to the procedural and substantive rights set forth therein. To resolve that issue, we first look to the text and the history of pertinent portions of the FDA. Since its enactment in 1983, the FDA has provided that certain procedures are to be followed when county and city boards of education and two-year educational institutions under the direction of the Board seek to terminate the employment of “employees” of those entities. See Ala.Code 1975, § 36-26-100. Stated another way, for the FDA to apply to a particular person, he or she must be an employee of an entity covered under the FDA. See Holland v. Pearson, 20 So.3d 120, 124 (Ala.Civ.App.2008) (noting that if one is not employed by a covered entity, one would not be an “employee” for FDA purposes).

The position taken in this litigation by Salatto, which was adopted by the administrative law judge in his order and which was later endorsed by the circuit court in its judgment upholding that order, is that Salatto was an employee of Southern Union, which is a two-year educational institution under the direction of the Board, at the time that termination of her employment was sought. That Southern Union is a state-affiliated junior college is beyond doubt. See Ala.Code 1975, § 16-60-130 et seq.; see also Executive Order No. 3 (September 3, 1968) (ratifying state acquisition of the former Southern Union College). However, simply because Salatto served as president of Southern Union does not resolve whether she was an employee of Southern Union.

In analyzing whether a person is an “employee” of a covered entity under the FDA, Alabama courts are guided by “general Alabama law pertaining to employment relationships.” Peterson v. Lowndes Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 980 So.2d 975, 977 (Ala.2007). In Peterson, our supreme court observed that whether particular persons may properly be deemed employees of a covered entity “depends upon the extent to which the [entity] had a right to select and control them while they were employed-” Id. at 978. Peterson also quoted language from Davenport-Harris Funeral Home, Inc. v. Chandler, 38 Ala.App. 463, 466, 88 So.2d 875, 877 (1956), indicating that the right to select the person claimed to be an employee is an indispensable element of an employment relationship. 980 So.2d at 977-78.

What entity holds the right, under Alabama law, to select the president of a two-year college such as Southern Union? Under Alabama law, the authority to make that selection is vested in a single entity: the Board, acting pursuant to the recommendation of the chancellor (ie., chief executive officer) of the Postsecondary Education Department.

“The State Board of Education, upon recommendation of the Chancellor, shall be authorized to:
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“(3) Appoint the president of each junior college and trade school, each president to serve at the pleasure of the board.”

Ala.Code 1975, § 16-60-111.4. In DeWitt v. Gainous, 628 So.2d 418, 420 (Ala.1993), the provisions of that statute were held to [112]*112permit the Board to unilaterally terminate a person’s presidency at a state junior college: “Under ... § 16-60-111.4(8).... the presidents of Alabama’s junior colleges are at-will employees of the Board of Education and serve at the pleasure of the Board.” (Emphasis added.)

Although DeWitt did not involve an FDA challenge to a president’s summary discharge, a subsequent decision of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama did examine the interplay between the FDA and postsec-ondary-education presidents. In Shuford v. Alabama State Board of Education, 978 F.Supp. 1008 (M.D.Ala.1997), aff'd, 152 F.3d 935 (11th Cir.1998) (table), a former technical-college president contended, among other things, that he had been discharged in contravention of due-process principles and asserted that, among other things, the FDA gave him a property interest in his position as president. 978 F.Supp. at 1022-23. After noting the holding in DeWitt, the federal district court rejected the president’s property-entitlement claim, noting that the FDA contained (at that time) an exception from its provisions to the effect that the employment of “ ‘employees who [were] ... otherwise covered by ... [an]other state statute’ ” at the time that the FDA had been originally adopted in 1983 was not intended to be included within the scope of the FDA. 978 F.Supp.

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Related

Holland v. Pearson
20 So. 3d 120 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2008)
Jefferson County Sheriff's Department v. Daniels
13 So. 3d 993 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2009)
Glass v. Anniston City Bd. of Educ.
957 So. 2d 1143 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2006)
Peterson v. Lowndes County Bd. of Educ.
980 So. 2d 975 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2007)
Shuford v. Alabama State Board of Education
978 F. Supp. 1008 (M.D. Alabama, 1997)
Franks v. Jordan
55 So. 3d 1218 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2010)
Davenport-Harris Funeral Home, Inc. v. Chandler
88 So. 2d 875 (Alabama Court of Appeals, 1956)
DeWitt v. Gainous
628 So. 2d 418 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
96 So. 3d 108, 2011 WL 4790634, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 269, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southern-union-state-v-salatto-2091201-alacivapp-10-7-2011-alacivapp-2011.