Weinstein v. United States

74 F. Supp. 554, 109 Ct. Cl. 579, 1947 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 68
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedDecember 1, 1947
DocketNo. 47597
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 74 F. Supp. 554 (Weinstein v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weinstein v. United States, 74 F. Supp. 554, 109 Ct. Cl. 579, 1947 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 68 (cc 1947).

Opinions

Howell, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the Court:

Plaintiff sues to recover back salary she claims is due her by reason of her dismissal as a Civil Service employee of the Navy Department, which dismissal she alleges to be wrongful because of noncompliance by the Navy with statu[581]*581tory procedures. The Government demurs to the petition. The facts stated in the petition are as follows:

Plaintiff was employed as a clerk in the Navy Department from July 6, 1986, until her discharge March 15, 1941, such employment being within the scope of the Civil Service Statutes. At the time of her discharge the plaintiff was classified as a Clerk CAF-4, receiving an annual salary of $1,800. Plaintiff was informed on February 11, 1941, by the United States Civil Service Commission that she was barred for a period of three years from Civil Service examinations or reinstatement in the Government service because of unsuitability as revealed by investigation.

On March 14, 1941, plaintiff received notice of her discharge with prejudice effective March 15,1941, in a communication signed by the Under Secretary of the Navy, which stated: “Subject: Discharge with Prejudice. (1) In consideration of report received from the United States Civil Service Commission in your case, you are hereby discharged for administrative reasons as Clerk CAF-4, $1,800 per annum, effective at close of business March 15, 1941”; no other information relating to her discharge other than the aforesaid was ever given to the plaintiff by the Navy Department.

Hearing was had before the Board of Appeals and Review of the Civil Service Commission on May 23, 26, and June 23, 1941, as a result of which plaintiff was informed by the Civil Service Commission on December 4,1942, that the bar against her name had been removed and that proper consideration would be given to any request from an appointing officer for her reinstatement as Clerk-Stenographer.

After receiving this notification, plaintiff applied to the Navy Department for reinstatement, which request was refused by the Under Secretary of the Navy in a letter dated March 18, 1943.

Plaintiff suffered a loss in salary from March 15, 1941, until March 18, 1943, of $3,600, and during such period plaintiff received in private employment wages totaling $2,075, leaving a loss of wages suffered by her in the sum of $1,525. Plaintiff has also suffered the loss of approximately one month’s accrued annual leave plus an additional [582]*582two month’s annual leave which would have accrued between March 15, 1941, and March 18, 1948, had she not been discharged, amounting in all to $450. She therefore makes claim for $1,975, together with interest.

On May 28, 1945, plaintiff requested payment for her lost wages and annual leave from the Navy Department, which request was refused. The United States Civil Service Commission refused a similar request on August 21, 1945, and on September 26,1945, plaintiff addressed a request for payment to the Comptroller General of the United States. On December 10, 1946, the Comptroller General disallowed her claim.

Plaintiff’s dismissal is alleged to have been wrongful and unlawful under Section 6 of the Act of August 24, 1912, 37 Stat. 539, 555, in that she was discharged not for a cause that would promote the efficiency of the service, she was not given notice of her impending removal, she was not served with a copy of the charges and was not given a reasonable time to answer them in writing. Her discharge was also claimed to have been unlawful under Section 6 of the Act of June 28, 1940, 54 Stat. 676, 679, in that she was never informed that in the opinion of the Secretary of the Navy her removal was warranted by the demands of the national security, she was not given an opportunity to personally appear before the proper official in the Navy Department, she was not fully informed by the Secretary of the Navy or anyone on his behalf of the reasons for her removal, and she was not given the opportunity to submit to the Navy a statement or affidavit to show why she should be retained and not removed.

As we have said, the Government demurs. It says that the plaintiff was summarily discharged under the Act of June 28, 1940, 54 Stat. 676, 679, 50 U. S. C. A. App. 1156. Plaintiff on the other hand says that her dismissal appears to have been made under the authority of the 1912 Act and as such was illegal and void because of noncompliance with procedural requirements and furthermore if plaintiff’s discharge was under the 1940 Act as contended by the defendant, it was nevertheless illegal and void because of noncompliance with procedural requirements of that Act. Plaintiff points [583]*583to Ivan M. Elchibegoff v. United States, 106 C. Cls. 541, which we do not think is controlling in the instant case..

In that case the main question involved was whether or not the statutory procedure required by Section 6 of the Act of August 24, 1912, had been followed effecting plaintiff’s discharge and further whether he could maintain a suit for salary for the period until the discharge was made effective in a legal way. This Court concluded on the basis of the record in connection with the termination of the plaintiff’s.: service that the statutory procedure was not followed and permitted the plaintiff to recover his salary for the period until the discharge was made effective in a legal way.

In this case we are concerned with the Act of June 28, 1940, 54 Stat. 676, 679, 50 U. S. C. A. App. 1156, which in pertinent part reads as follows:

* * * Provided further, that during the national emergency declared by the President on September 8, 1939, to exist, the provisions of section 6 of the Act of August 24, 1912 * * * shall not apply to any civil-service employee of the War or Navy Departments or of the Coast Guard, or their field services, whose immediate removal is, in the opinion of the Secretary concerned, warranted by the demands of national security, but nothing herein shall be construed to repeal, modify, or suspend the proviso in that section. Those persons summarily removed under the authority of this section may, if in the opinion of the Secretary concerned, subsequent investigation so warrants, be reinstated, and if so reinstated shall be allowed compensation for the period of such removal at the rate they were receiving on the date of removal: And provided further, That within thirty days after such removal any such person shall have an opportunity personally to appear before the official designated by the Secretary concerned and be fully informed of the reasons for such removal, and to submit, within thirty days thereafter, such statement or affidavits, or both, as he may desire to show why he should be retained and not removed.

This Act was in effect and specifically applicable to summary dismissals of civilian employees of the Navy Department on March 15, 1941. It was intended to protect the national security by permitting the summary dismissal of questionable employees. Congress did not intend that the requirements of section 6 of the Act of 1912 should be [584]*584permanently suspended but only temporarily during a period of great national emergency.

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Related

Carr v. United States
15 Cl. Ct. 82 (Court of Claims, 1988)
Bailey v. Richardson
182 F.2d 46 (D.C. Circuit, 1950)

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Bluebook (online)
74 F. Supp. 554, 109 Ct. Cl. 579, 1947 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 68, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weinstein-v-united-states-cc-1947.