One Minute Lawyer® Newsletter

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CIVIL SERVICE PROTECTION

Civil Service protection applies to the hiring and firing of most public sector employees at the federal, state, and local level, other than elected and some appointed officials. Civil Service rules were originally created to protect the public from the evils of cronyism under the "spoils" or patronage system that existed in most of the country before the 1900s, whereby elected officials appointed friends and political supporters to public jobs without concern as to their qualifications or performance. (One of the early proponents of reform was Theodore Roosevelt who was appointed Civil Service Commissioner of the United States in 1889.) The Minnesota Supreme Court has stated that "one of the purposes of the civil service laws and rules . . . is to eliminate as far as practicable the element of partisanship and personal favoritism in the making of an appointment." Mahnerd v. Canfield.

Federal Civil Service is governed by the Office of Personnel Management and the Merit Systems Protection Board. State employees in Minnesota are subject to the civil service laws found in Minn. Stat. § 43A. They may also be subject to the Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA), Minn. Stat. Chapter 179A, the state Administrative Procedures Act (APA) and the Veteran's Preference Act. (For more information on Veteran's Preference see Minnesota Veteran's Preference Act: A View from the Front Lines). Civil Service employees of local municipalities and cities may be governed by a specific set of rules and a special quasi-judicial commission.

Generally, under the state laws, "no permanent employee in the classified service shall be reprimanded, discharged, suspended without pay or demoted except for just cause." Minn. Stat. § 43A.33. This is a very significant protection that does not exist for the vast majority of private sector employees who are generally considered "at-will" employees. Also, before a civil service employee is terminated, or even given a serious reprimand, he or she is also entitled to a so-called Loudermill hearing by which the public employer must provide the employee with notice of the reasons for the action, an opportunity to review the evidence, and an opportunity to respond.

Civil Service employees who are terminated, discharged or demoted and feel that it was done without justification or cause should act quickly and be mindful of very short deadlines, which are typically 30 days under state law but could be more or less depending on the exact circumstances. Many public sector employees are also union members and may be required to make an election as to whether they want to seek protection through a union grievance or civil service since they may not be able to do both.

The Law Firm of Mansfield Tanick & Cohen has a long history of helping civil service employees. Some of its recent activities in this area include the following:

• Obtaining a reversal of the Minneapolis Civil Service Commission before the Minnesota Court of Appeals on behalf of an electrician (V. John Ella);
  
  
• Obtaining an order from a federal judge directing the City of Minneapolis to provide an evidentiary hearing for a terminated police officer and then winning that hearing before an administrative law judge who reinstated the officer to his position (Marshall Tanick and V. John Ella);
  
  
• Representing an Air Force civilian employee before the Merit Systems Protection Board;
  
  
• Representation of a group of 50 Minneapolis School District employees in State court to determine, declare and protect their civil service status;
  
  
• Service as a commissioner on the Golden Valley Civil Service Commission (Marshall Tanick);
  
  
• Successful representation of dozens of employee of various State of Minnesota agencies and departments, including the Department of Human Services, the Department of Natural Resources, the University of Minnesota, and others.
  
  

For more information on civil service protection contact Marshall Tanick or V. John Ella.