Spears v. DEPT. OF WILDLIFE

997 So. 2d 946, 2008 WL 2806564
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJuly 22, 2008
Docket2007-CC-00954-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 997 So. 2d 946 (Spears v. DEPT. OF WILDLIFE) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spears v. DEPT. OF WILDLIFE, 997 So. 2d 946, 2008 WL 2806564 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

997 So.2d 946 (2008)

Lou E. SPEARS, Appellant,
v.
MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE, FISHERIES AND PARKS, Appellee.

No. 2007-CC-00954-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

July 22, 2008.
Rehearing Denied January 6, 2009.

*947 John H. Ott, Mccomb, attorney for appellant.

William Douglas Mann, attorney for appellee.

Before MYERS, P.J., CHANDLER and BARNES, JJ.

CHANDLER, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. On remand from the Circuit Court of Pike County, Hearing Officer Roosevelt Daniels II found that Lou E. Spears did not prove that her termination by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks was improper. On appeal, the full Mississippi Appeals Board affirmed the decision of Officer Daniels. Spears then appealed to the circuit court, which entered an order affirming the full Board's decision. Aggrieved, Spears appeals the judgment of the circuit court. She argues that the circuit court erred in considering evidence from the second administrative hearing when there existed a transcript from the first administrative hearing, in which Officer Daniels found in Spears's favor. Alternatively, Spears argues that Officer Daniel's decision in favor of the Department was arbitrary, capricious, and not supported by substantial evidence.

¶ 2. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. On May 1, 2002, Spears was terminated from her position as a housekeeper with the Percy Quinn State Park for repeatedly refusing to sign her performance appraisal reviews (PAR).[1] Spears's refusals constituted a "Group III[,] No. 16 offense, according to the Mississippi State Employee Personnel Handbook (July 2001): `willful violation of State Personnel Board policies, rules[,] and regulations.'" Spears admitted that she refused to sign the PARs, but she claimed that she refused because the Department had not furnished her copies of her prior PARs. She also believed that someone else had been signing her name to documents.

¶ 4. Spears began working for the Department sometime in 1998. The first incident arose in 2001 when Spears refused to sign a PAR, for which she was issued a reprimand on March 16, 2001. She did not file a grievance with the Department following this reprimand, nor did she file a *948 grievance at any time before losing her job. Thereafter, the new Regional Parks Manager, Dee Kincaid, began working with Spears to remedy the situation. Kincaid placed Spears on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) and provided Spears with the necessary instruction to perform her job.

¶ 5. In January 2002, at the conclusion of her PIP, Spears again refused to sign the PAR despite her satisfactory rating. After Spears refused to sign her annual PAR in March 2002, the Department sent Spears a pre-termination letter. The letter gave Spears the option to respond to the allegations against her, and it informed her that a hearing was scheduled at which the Department would determine whether to terminate her employment.

¶ 6. In response to the pre-termination letter, Spears sent a letter to Kincaid requesting copies of her prior PARs and alleging that someone had been signing her name to documents. The Department deemed Spears's letter to be unresponsive to the charges against her. In the letter, Spears asked a number of questions regarding the forms that she refused to sign, but she did not answer any of the charges against her. She concluded her letter as follows:

Answer our questions in order within seven working days as the handbook states along with Glen [Harris] and Sam Polles. Afterwards if the three of you meet with us in person with drivers['] licenses as I.D. and picture state I.D. badges we will consider signing your [SPB] form.

Even though Spears requested a meeting with her supervisors, she failed to attend the scheduled due process hearing. Because Spears did not respond to the Department's allegations and did not attend her due process hearing, she presented no defense to the charges against her. Accordingly, the Department issued a letter terminating Spears's employment, effective May 1, 2002.

¶ 7. Spears, acting pro se, appealed her termination, and a hearing was held before Officer Daniels. Following the hearing, Officer Daniels issued an order setting aside Spears's termination. Officer Daniels found that only the appointing authority can terminate an employee, and there was no evidence in the record indicating that the appointing authority had delegated that authority to Executive Officer Robert Cook, who authorized Spears's termination. After entering the order, Officer Daniels allowed the Department to supplement the record with documents, including a memorandum showing that Cook did have such authority.

¶ 8. The Department appealed the order setting aside Spears's termination to the full Board. To support its argument on appeal, the Department pointed to the memorandum in which Executive Director Sam Polles designated Cook as Executive Director Designee, thereby granting him authority to handle all personnel issues requiring a fourth-level review. This designation gave Cook the authority to handle personnel issues, including, but not limited to, reprimands, suspensions, and terminations. According to the memorandum, which was not in evidence during the initial hearing before Officer Daniels, Cook's designation became effective on July 23, 2001, which was prior to Spears's termination.

¶ 9. Notwithstanding the memorandum delegating authority to Cook, the full Board affirmed Officer Daniels's order reinstating Spears to her position. The full Board found that "the record does not reflect that [Spears] was ever given the opportunity for review and feedback of her performance appraisal." It found as such despite the fact that neither the Department *949 nor Spears requested or submitted a transcript of the proceedings before Officer Daniels. The full Board also determined that the memorandum should have been available at the time of the initial hearing, and it should have been entered at that time.

¶ 10. Next, pursuant to section 11-51-95 of the Mississippi Code Annotated (Rev. 2002), the Department filed a writ of certiorari with the circuit court seeking review of the full Board's decision. Upon review, because neither party had requested nor submitted a transcript of the initial hearing, the circuit court found that the record was insufficient to render a judgment. The circuit court, therefore, remanded the case to the hearing officer to make an adequate record.

¶ 11. Following a second hearing, at which Spears was represented by counsel, Officer Daniels found that Spears failed to meet her burden. He entered an order finding that the Department acted in accordance with its policies, rules, and regulations, and he upheld Spears's termination. Spears then appealed the order to the full Board, which affirmed Officer Daniels's order. On appeal from the full Board, the circuit court also affirmed Spears's termination. Finally, Spears appealed the circuit court's judgment affirming her termination, and it is that appeal that is currently before this Court.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 12. We will not disturb the conclusions of an administrative agency unless that agency's order "(1) is not supported by substantial evidence, (2) is arbitrary or capricious, (3) is beyond the scope or power granted to the agency, or (4) violates one's constitutional rights." Hemba v. Miss. Dep't of Corr., 848 So.2d 909, 914(¶ 18) (Miss.Ct.App.2003) (citing Miss. Dep't of Corr. v. Harris, 831 So.2d 1190, 1192(¶ 6) (Miss.Ct.App.2002)).

¶ 13.

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