By Eloria Newell James, community@leadercall.com
July 19, 2008 10:37 am
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The City of Laurel is now appealing a recent Circuit Court ruling in a 2003 lawsuit involving promotions in the Laurel Fire Department.
Former Laurel Fire Capt. Kenneth (Ken) Keyes filed an appeal in the Jones County Circuit Court in regard to a June 23, 2003, hearing before the city's Civil Service Commission.
According to Circuit Court documents,"the factual basis for the appeal stems from the promotion of another fireman to Battalion Chief, and the Civil Service Commission order on June 23, 2003. The Civil Service Board upheld the promotion of a captain of a rank of Station Chief; which is a rank below appellant's rank of Fire Department Shift Captain. It is uncontradicted that both men were highly qualified."
Circuit Judge Billy J. Landrum in May ordered that "the ruling of the Civil Service Commission is hereby reversed and the city is ordered to promote the appellant (Keyes) as a Battalion Chief, effective June 23, 2003, with all the promotions, benefits and privileges, of the Battalion Chief rank, which was the rank he deserved."
In his ruling, the judge stated that "the issue become whether or not the city was authorized to appoint the station chief over the appellant (Keyes), when Rule 11(1) of the Civil Service Rules and Regulations for the City of Laurel provides that [vacancies in positions shall be filled, so far as practicable, by promotions from among persons holding positions in a lower grade from the same office or area of activity of function in which the vacancy exists."
The judge's ruling states that "The City of Laurel has a long history of promoting on the basis of seniority, which has created a strong and stable fire department in the city and that tradition was the basis of Rule 11(1) having been adopted. The city now argues that the "shall" does not make it compulsory that the city appoint the next highest ranking officer. The city argues that the working somehow means that they could promote from any lower ranking officer and that the upholding of its decision by the Civil Service Board was not arbitrary and capricious."
"The court finds from the evidence that the city's appointment was clearly in violation of Rule 11(1) of the Civil Service Rules and that for the Civil Service Board to uphold that decision, when a qualified person holding the next highest rank was available, was arbitrary and unreasonable as a matter of law and in violation of their own rule," the ruling states. "The city's attempt to justify their appointment by allegations of improprieties which may or may not have been caused by the appellant, does not speak to the issue that the rule itself is compulsory provided the appellant or another candidate of equal rank was qualified."
Records in the Jones County Circuit Clerk's Office show that the city on June 6 filed a notice of appeal in the Keyes case.
Court officials said once all the documents relating to the case have been gathered and filed, “the file will be sent to the Supreme Court."
City officials said they cannot comment on pending litigations.
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