State ex rel. Knowles v. Reser

633 S.W.2d 450, 1982 Mo. App. LEXIS 3832
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided March 30, 1982·No. No. WD 32638·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

PRITCHARD, Judge.

This action began upon a petition for writ of mandamus asking that the trial court reinstate appellant as an employee of the Division of Family Services, Research and Statistics Unit, with a classification of Research Analyst IV, at a salary of $1,524 per month. The trial court issued an alternative writ of mandamus but, after hearing, quashed it as being improvidently granted. Appellant filed an application for review before the Personnel Review Board which denied it on the ground that it had no jurisdiction in a case of layoff of an employee.

Appellant pleaded that respondent advised him that she was laying him off effective at the close of the working day, January 31, 1978, for the reason of budget limitations and that the class of Research Analyst IV was not included in the budget for fiscal year 1978. Respondent’s letter of dismissal, incorporated by reference in the petition, recited further, “we are deleting the position of Research Analyst IV which you hold”, and “We no longer have the need for a person in the classification of Research Analyst IV and find it necessary to terminate your employment.”

Since 1970, appellant had been a member of the Missouri State Merit System assigned to the Division of Family Services. Through promotion and assignment he became Assistant Chief, Research and Statistics, in 1972 in Jefferson City, becoming in 1975, in the same position, a member of the Electronic Data Processing Unit of the Administrative Services Section. Effective June 1, 1976, he was transferred to the position of Research Analyst IV in a special project called Medicaid Management Information System which was a part of the Electronic Data Processing Unit. As Research Analyst IV, he was assigned back to the Research and Statistics Unit in the Administrative Services Section in January, 1977.

In December, 1977, the Finance Director of the Division notified its Director that based upon payroll expenditures within the Administrative Services Division for the first five months of the fiscal year (beginning July 1, 1977), there was a projected overrun of about $220,000. The payroll overrun projection of Administrative Services was computed by comparing the total personnel appropriation, $7,378,031, minus the 3% Governor’s reserve under § 33.290, RSMo 1978, divided by 12 months, with the average monthly payroll actually expended during the first five months of the fiscal year, 1978. As to the Research and Statistics Unit, where appellant was employed, the projection showed monthly expenditures of $14,316, as against an average allocation of appropriations of $11,349 monthly. This would have resulted in an end of year salaries overrun of $35,607 without consideration of the 3% reserve, or $33,370 with that consideration. The Director instructed all unit heads to seek solutions, and the head of Research and Statistics recommended that two employees’ salaries, $2,458, be transferred to the Social Services Section, and that appellant be laid off from Ms $1,524 monthly position. This recommendation was followed by respondent Director, and she gave written notice to appellant that he would be laid off effective February 1,1978, due to budget limitations, the absence of the position classification for Research Analyst IV in the 1978 fiscal year budget, and the lack of any further need of that position. Appellant then was employed at lesser salaries in the Division of Probation and Parole, the Division of Youth Services, and the Division of Planning and [452] Budget, all within the Department of Social Services.

In the spring of 1977, the Division of Family Services, in preparing its fiscal year 1978 budget, requested $39,800 for an “A.F. D.C. Demonstration Project”, but no funds were appropriated therefor by the General Assembly. Nonetheless, the Division decided to proceed with the project and use the money appropriated from administrative services. Two employees were involved in this project, at total salaries of $2,458 monthly, which was charged against the Research and Statistics Unit allocation for the first seven months of fiscal year 1978 (a total of $17,206). Mr. Remmert, in charge of the research unit, discovered that the salaries of the two employees were being charged against it in November, 1977, and succeeded in having them transferred to the Social Services Section, effective February 1, 1978, for funding purposes only, but that transfer was not sufficient to avoid the projected overrun for the Unit.

A request for appropriation for Research Analyst IV, classification 0434, appellant’s title, was included in the fiscal year 1978 request for appropriation. Apparently, respondent’s statement in the letter of dismissal to appellant that it was not included is in error. There is evidence that funding for that position has been requested for the subsequent years, 1979, 1980 and 1981, but the position has not been occupied as such since appellant’s discharge.

Although the 1978 appropriation specified that full-time equivalent (F.T.E.) employees not exceed 706.5, beginning in July, 1977, there were 718.54; August, 711.61; September, 709.92; October, 708.82; November, 696.69; December, 685.18, and January, 1978, 676.24. Through June, 1978, FTE was at 675.52, with an average for the year of 684.52.

The actual expenditures for personal services to the end of fiscal year 1978 were $145,577, less the amount of the 3% reserve, $25,385, which was released in April, 1978. There was $9,392 surplus in Research and Statistics, without consideration of the 3% reserve, and $7,155 with that consideration. It thus appears that there would have been sufficient funds to have continued appellant’s employment for five months, but that fact does not determine the issue — that of respondent’s duty and discretion to determine the expenditure of funds within the Division.

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State ex rel. Knowles v. Reser, 633 S.W.2d 450, 1982 Mo. App. LEXIS 3832 (Mo. Ct. App. 1982).

633 S.W.2d 450 (State ex rel. Knowles v. Reser) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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