Talmadge v. Sutton

166 S.E. 240, 175 Ga. 811, 1932 Ga. LEXIS 341
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedOctober 13, 1932
DocketNo. 9112
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 166 S.E. 240 (Talmadge v. Sutton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Talmadge v. Sutton, 166 S.E. 240, 175 Ga. 811, 1932 Ga. LEXIS 341 (Ga. 1932).

Opinion

Bell, J.

J. M. Sutton, State Veterinarian, brought a suit against Eugene Talmadge, Commissioner of Agriculture, seeking to enjoin the defendant from interfering with the plaintiff in the performance of his duties as State Veterinarian. The defendant demurred generally and specially to the petition, and filed an answer. Owing to the disqualification of the judge of the superior court of the county in which the suit was filed, jurisdiction was assumed by Judge Jones of the Macon judicial circuit, who overruled all grounds of the demurrer, and, after hearing evidence, granted an interlocutory injunction, and the defendant excepted.

The petition contained the following allegations: The plaintiff as State Veterinarian has certain specific duties to perform, and by the law creating this office and the statutes amendatory thereof he is given complete jurisdiction over the administration of the duties of the office of State Veterinarian, “having the sole right to employ assistants, both field assistants and office assistants, and to fix their compensation and to supervise their work.” In order to carry om his duties as State Veterinarian, it is necessary for the plaintiff to have various assistants and inspectors. The plaintiff has heretofore designated C. 0. Von Gremp as dairy inspector and field veterinarian at a salary of $225 per month, and C. B. Smith as dairy inspector at a salary of $150 per month, and Miss Edda [813]*813McEaehin as secretary to the State Veterinarian at a salary of $175 per month. Each of these employees is efficient and experienced, and almost, if not entirely, indispensable to the plaintiff in the performance of his official duties, and any interference with' these employees or either of them is a serious interference with the proper functioning of the plaintiff as State Veterinarian. Notwithstanding the plaintiff has the sole right to employ and discharge all employees in his department, the defendant has discharged each of the several employees just referred to, and has refused to sign vouchers for their compensation. The work of each of these employees is entirely satisfactory to the plaintiff, and there are ample funds with which to pay such employees, the same having been specifically provided and allocated for that purpose by the General Assembly. The defendant is wilfully refusing to sign vouchers for the salaries of these employees, and “has refused to sign any and all vouchers for the payment of the expenses incident to salaries, and the upkeep and carrying on of the work of the State Veterinary Department, thus practically nullifying the work of the entire department.” The defendant has threatened to discharge the plaintiff as State Veterinarian, and has demanded his resignation. The defendant is preparing to and will attempt to take over the administration of the State Veterinarian’s office and all of its duties, notwithstanding the fact that the defendant has no authority to do so. These acts are wilful and done with the intent' and purpose of hindering the plaintiff in his official work as State Veterinarian. “ Defendant is withholding your petitioner’s mail by having said mail delivered to his office first and then refusing to turn said mail over to your petitioner, and is diverting said mail or part of said mail as he desires, and this is unlawful and is hindering your petitioner in the discharge of his duty, and said defendant is undertaking to give orders with regard to the administration of the duties of the State Veterinary’s office, is planning to discharge any and all of said employees now in said department, and to completely take over the work of the State Veterinarian, in violation of law and in violation of your petitioner’s rights. In furtherance of this design and purpose on the part of the defendant, he has introduced various employees of the plaintiff to Dr. M. E. White, and informed “said employees that the said M. E. White was the new State Veterinarian and in charge of the State Vet[814]*814erinarian’s work,” and that such employees would thereafter report directly to the defendant. On one occasion the defendant sent his office assistant with two other persons to take physical charge of the plaintiffs offices and lock them up, and “then and'there demanded the keys to said offices. All of said acts were in furtherance of defendant’s attempt to interfere with and take over the duties of plaintiff as State Veterinarian.” Before presenting this petition the plaintiff appeared before the Governor “under the provisions of the act of 1931 known as the reorganization bill,” but the Governor held that “he had no jurisdiction in the premises.”

The prayers were that the defendant be restrained from interfering with the plaintiff as set forth in the petition, and from interfering with his assistants and employees in any manner; that he be restrained from employing or seeking to employ any person to work “in said State Veterinary’s office or department,” and from expending or attempting to expend any of the funds appropriated and allocated for the carrying on of the State Veterinary department in this State; and that the defendant also be restrained from receiving or diverting the plaintiff’s mail.

The commissioner admitted that he at one time thought he had the right to remove the veterinarian from office, but testified that he later abandoned this idea. He denied that he had ever introduced any other person as the plaintiff’s successor, and contended that in all matters he had acted in good faith and in the proper exercise of the duties of his office.

The trial judge delivered an opinion in support of his conclusion that the defendant should be enjoined; and it appears that lie decided the case altogether upon the theory that the Commissioner of Agriculture now has no supervision or control over the State Veterinarian, and therefore that there could be no exercise of discretion by the commissioner in respect of the acts complained of. The restraining order was to the effect that the defendant be enjoined from interfering in any manner with the plaintiff “in the discharge of his duties as State Veterinarian, or with his employees, agents or assistants,” and that he likewise be enjoined “from receiving an3r of the plaintiff’s mail or any mail intended for the office of State Veterinarian.”

We are of the opinion, that the petition, when considered on [815]*815general demurrer, stated sufficient cause for injunctive relief, and that the judge did not err in. overruling the general demurrer. As to several of the acts complained of, the petition alleges in effect that the commissioner acted wilfully and arbitrarily, and thus entirely without the bounds of discretion. Upon such a state of facts an injunction could be granted, regardless of whether the plaintiff had the right to conduct the office of State Veterinarian independently of any supervision by the defendant as Commissioner of Agriculture. Jackson v. State Highway Dept., 164 Ga. 434 (4) (138 S. E. 847); Van Valkenburg v. Stone, 172 Ga. 642 (158 S. E. 419). If the petition is good for any part of the relief prayed for, it is not subject to general demurrer. Arteaga v. Arteaga, 169 Ga. 595 (4) (151 S. E. 5).

We will not pass upon the special grounds of demurrer. In the brief of counsel for the plaintiff in error it was stated that some of the objections raised by the special demurrer may have been met by the amendments to the petition, although for the most part the defects pointed out by the demurrer still existed.

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Related

Cummings v. Robinson
21 S.E.2d 627 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1942)
Sutton v. Adams
178 S.E. 365 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1934)
Touchstone v. Gormley
172 S.E. 335 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1933)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 S.E. 240, 175 Ga. 811, 1932 Ga. LEXIS 341, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/talmadge-v-sutton-ga-1932.