Lowe v. Trotter
Lowe v. Trotter
Opinion of the Court
OPINION OP THE COURT BY
This is a submission upon an agreed statement of facts. The record shows that prior to the adoption and promulgation of the rules and regulations of the civil service the plaintiff was an employee of the territorial board of health; that on the 22d day of May, 1914, the date upon which the said civil service rules went into effect, the plaintiff was regularly appointed to a position in the inspection service in the competitive class as a district sanitary inspector pursuant to the provisions of Rule 4 of the rules and regulations of said civil service commission; that the plaintiff continued to occupy said position at a salary of $90 per month until the month of July, 1915, when he was transferred to a position in the quarantine service at a salary of $90 per month, and that ever since said date the position prior to that time held by plaintiff as such sanitary inspector has been held by and the salary pertaining thereto paid to another; that said transfer was made without the approval of the civil service commission and was not made as a result of or pursuant to any examination of the plaintiff touching his qualification or fitness for such position; that the plaintiff continued to hold and occupy the said position in the quarantine service until the month of July, 1917, in which month he was transferred or promoted to a position in the clerical service at a salary of $125 per month; that said transfer or promotion was made without the approval of the civil service commission and without the examination provided for by Rules 12 and 13 of the said civil service commission; that the plaintiff continued to hold and occupy the said position in the clerical service up to and including the 7th day of November, 1919, when the defendants herein removed or attempted
Under these facts and circumstances the plaintiff claims that he is entitled to be restored to the position in the clerical service which he occupied on the said 7th day
Rule 4 of the civil service rules provides that the competitive class of the classified service shall be subdivided into sis classes, among which, stated in the order that they -were occupied by plaintiff, are found: . 3, inspection service; 4, quarantine service, and 1, clerical service. This rule also provides that “appointments to the competitive class shall be made * ⅜ ⅜ by selection from among those persons graded highest on the most nearly appropriate eligible list resulting from open competitive examination.” Paragraph 2 of Rule 17 provides that “It shall be the duty of the appointing officer to report to the commission in writing each selection made by him for appointment to, or employment or reinstatement in any position in the classified service, except in the non-competitive class, upon the date thereof, stating in each case
It would appear therefore that under the civil service rules herein quoted the plaintiff has since July, 1913, illegally, or rather in contravention of said rules, occupied two positions, first, in the quarantine service, and again in the clerical service; and that being the case it must be regarded that his employment in these positions was in the nature of an ordinary contract of employment and terminable at any time at the instance of either party for it is only hy conforming to the mandates of the rules of the civil service commission that he is entitled to reap the benefits therein conferred upon its employees and of course his accepting and occupying this anomalous position for a long period of time was an abandonment of the position originally held by him under the civil sendee rules, which position being open and not occupied by either himself or any one else the hoard of health Avas perfectly at liberty to instate another- civil sendee aspirant therein. Further, it appears that his appointments to the quarantine service and to the clerical service were not reported to the civil service commission as required by said Eule 17. “Const, art. 5, sec. 9, requires promotions in the civil service to he made according to merits, to be ascertained as far as practicable, by competitive examination; and Laws 1899, p. 795, c. 370, passed in pursuance thereof, provides that
It would therefore appear that the plaintiff was never legally appointed to a position in the classified service either as an employee in the quarantine service or as" an employee in the clerical service and that he cannot be reinstated to either of said positions. •
We are therefore of the opinion that the plaintiff is not entitled to any back salary in any amount whatsoever nor is he entitled to be reinstated in any position.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- HERBERT W. LOWE v. F. E. TROTTER, SUMNER S. PAXSON, W. C. HOBDY, GEORGE P. DENISON, RUDOLPH M. DUNCAN, R. A. McNALLY AND HARRY IRWIN, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH OF THE TERRITORY OF HAWAII
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Municipal, Corporations—territorial board of health—civil service employee, removal of. An employee of the board of health who is transferred from one of the classified services to another, each of which appointments is in a competitive class, without complying with the rules and regulations of the civil service, and without having his name upon the eligible list of aspirants for the position to which he is transferred, cannot be regarded as a civil service employee and may be discharged at any time when his services are no longer required. Same—same. A civil service employee who abandons the position held by him under the civil service rules and accepts another position is not at liberty to question the appointment of some duly qualified person to the position vacated by him.