Sumling v. Department of Health

144 So. 3d 101, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0346, 2014 WL 2532446, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1510
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 4, 2014
DocketNo. 2013-CA-0346
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 144 So. 3d 101 (Sumling v. Department of Health) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sumling v. Department of Health, 144 So. 3d 101, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0346, 2014 WL 2532446, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1510 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinions

EDWIN A. LOMBARD, Judge.

hThe Appellant, Miochi Sumling, seeks review of the decision of the Civil Service Commission upholding her termination by the Appellee, the City of New Orleans. Finding that the Civil Service Commission erred in upholding the discipline imposed by the Appellee, we reverse in part and affirm as amended the decision of the Civil Service Commission.

Ms. Sumling was a permanent classified employee of the Department of Health of the City of New Orleans (“the City”) working as a medical assistant at Health Care for the Homeless (“the Clinic”). On January 23, 2012, Ms. Sumling attended a pre-termination hearing with Patrice Williams, the Executive Director of the Clinic, and Charlotte Parent, the Assistant Deputy Director of the Department of Health. On the same date, Ms. Sumling also received a termination letter, informing her that her termination was effective as of January 23, [103]*1032012.1 The correspondence from the City notified her that a pre-termination hearing was conducted on that morning related to continued incidences occurring between December 27, 2011 and January 8, 2012,2 regarding Code of Conduct Standard I-_jCustomer2 Service/Courtesy/Respect and Standard II-Job Performance outlined in the City of New Orleans Health Department Employee Manual. Moreover, the letter cited the following violations:

• exam rooms not properly set up to receive new patients;
• incomplete charts;
• lab work ordered and not drawn or not documented; and
• referrals not sent to referring physicians in a timely manner.

The letter goes on to state that there had been several other incidences over the past year where her medical assistant responsibilities were not completed, including documented incidences of a verbal warning on June 6, 2011, and a suspension on August 3rd and 4th, 2011, for a job performance incident.3

Subsequently, Ms. Sumling appealed her termination to the Civil Service Commission (“the Commission”), which assigned the appeal to a hearing examiner pursuant to Article X, Section 12 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. A hearing was held on April 18, 2012, before the hearing examiner, who considered the testimony of seven (7) witnesses. On behalf of the City, the following witnesses testified: Nurse Practitioner Jennie Robinson; Dr. Roberta Berrien, the Medical Director of the Clinic; Patrice Williams, the Executive Director of the Clinic; and Charlotte Parent, the Assistant Deputy Director of the Department of Health. Additionally, Ms. Sumling testified as well as two former co-workers in her | ¡^support: Pequitta Raymond and Willie Mae Martin, the former Executive Director of the Clinic.

The hearing examiner, in his report, recommended that Ms. Sumling’s appeal be denied finding that she was disciplined for cause. The Commission adopted the hearing examiner’s recommendation in its October 26, 2012 decision and upheld the termination. Ms. Sumling sought rehearing, but her request was denied by the Commission. Ms. Sumling timely filed the instant appeal and raises three (3) assignments of error:

1. The Commission’s failure to provide her with a copy of the hearing examiner’s report prior to the issuance of its decision violated her right to due process.
2. The Commission’s decision, that the Department proved legal cause for discipline, should be reversed as it is manifestly erroneous.
3. The Commission’s decision upholding her termination should be modified.

“The appointing authority (the employer of an employee in the classified civil service) is charged with the operation of his or her department and it is within [104]*104his or her discretion to discipline an employee for sufficient cause.” Lapene v. Dep’t of Police, 11-0902, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 1/25/12), 81 So.3d 998, 1000, citing Joseph v. Dep’t of Health, 389 So.2d 739, 741 (La.App. 4 Cir.1980). “Legal cause exists for disciplinary action of an employee in the classified civil service whenever the employee’s conduct impairs the efficiency of the public service in which the employee is engaged.” Id. [citations omitted].

“The appointing authority has the burden of proving the impairment by a preponderance of the evidence.” Id. at pp. 3-4, 81 So.3d at 1000 (citations omitted). Moreover, “[t]he Civil Service Commission has a duty to decide | independently from the facts presented whether the appointing authority has a good or lawful cause for taking disciplinary action and, if so, whether punishment imposed is commensurate with the dereliction.” Id. at p. 4, 81 So.3d at 1000, citing Walters v. Dep’t of Police of New Orleans, 454 So.2d 106 (La.1984).

In Lapene, we held that an appellate court should affirm the Commission’s conclusions as to the . existence or cause for dismissal of a permanent employee when the decision is not arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of the Commission’s discretion. Id. [citations omitted]. Additionally, we have noted that “[t]he decision of the Civil Service Commission is subject to review on any question of law or fact upon appeal to this Court, and this court may only review findings of fact using the manifestly erroneous/clearly wrong standard of review.” Ferris v. Dep’t of Police, 13-0202, p. 2 (La.App. 4 Cir. 11/20/13), 129 So.3d 801, 802 [citation omitted]. When there is a conflict in testimony, reasonable evaluations of credibility and reasonable inferences of fact should not be disturbed on review. George v. Dep’t of Fire, 93-2421, p. 4 (La.App. 4 Cir. 5/17/94), 637 So.2d 1097, 1101 [citations omitted]. The Commission’s findings of fact cannot be manifestly erroneous where there are two permissible views of the evidence. Id.

FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

In her first assignment of error, Ms. Sumling argues that the Commission’s failure to provide her with a copy of the hearing examiner’s report prior to the issuance of its decision violated her right to due process, as this Court previously held in Barquet v. Dep’t of Welfare, 620 So.2d 501, 506 (La.App. 4th Cir.1993).

Ms. Sumling argues that pursuant to Louisiana Constitution Art. X, § 8 of the Louisiana Constitution, U.S.C.A. Const. Amend. 14, she had a property right in her employment which she could not be deprived of without due process of law as a ^classified employee. She alleges that the hearing examiner who presided over her April 2012 hearing and subsequently presented a report to the Commission, failed to fully assess the credibility of the witnesses who testified in his report, as required in Cartwright v. Dep’t of Revenue and Taxation, 442 So.2d 552, 554 (La.App. 1st Cir.1983). She alleges that the hearing examiner’s report was superficial and incomplete as it was only a two-page summary of a 135-page record. The following is a list of omissions that Ms.

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Related

Sumling v. Department of Health
152 So. 3d 134 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
144 So. 3d 101, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0346, 2014 WL 2532446, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1510, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sumling-v-department-of-health-lactapp-2014.