Moeller v. Miss. Dep't of Human Services


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Docket Number: 2006-CC-00073-COA

Court of Appeals: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 05-01-2007
Opinion Author: IRVING, J.
Holding: Reversed and Remanded

Additional Case Information: Topic: Employee termination - Group III offense - State Employee Handbook
Judge(s) Concurring: KING, C.J., LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., CHANDLER, GRIFFIS, BARNES, ISHEE, ROBERTS AND CARLTON, JJ.
Procedural History: Admin or Agency Judgment
Nature of the Case: CIVIL - STATE BOARDS AND AGENCIES

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 12-13-2005
Appealed from: Hinds County Circuit Court
Judge: Bobby DeLaughter
Disposition: AFFIRMED DECISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYEE APPEALS BOARD.
Case Number: 251-03-1221

  Party Name: Attorney Name:  
Appellant: MARGARET MOELLER




JONATHAN B. FAIRBANK



 

Appellee: MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES KATHERINE JANE CALDWELL  

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Topic: Employee termination - Group III offense - State Employee Handbook

Summary of the Facts: Margaret Moeller was terminated from her employment with the Mississippi Department of Human Services. An administrative law judge upheld Moeller’s termination. Moeller appealed to the Mississippi Employee Appeals Board which affirmed. Moeller appealed that decision to the circuit court which affirmed the decision of the board. Moeller appeals.

Summary of Opinion Analysis: Moeller was terminated for a Group III, Number 11 offense which consists of “an act or acts of conduct occurring on or off the job which are plainly related to job performance and are of such nature that to continue the employee in the assigned position could constitute negligence in regard to the agency’s duties to the public or to other state employees.” MDHS argues that termination under this section was appropriate because it could not replace Moeller, and her work therefore was not being done during the years that she was gone. Moeller should not have been terminated for a Group III offense. In fact, there is nothing about Moeller’s conduct that would make it an “offense.” By way of example, some of the offenses prohibited by Group III are: going to work intoxicated, breaching agency security, violating established safety rules “where there exists a threat to life or human safety,” unauthorized possession of “dangerous weapons,” falsification of records, and “acts of physical violence.” Moeller suffered serious injuries while working that left her totally temporarily disabled, as shown by the full payments she received from worker’s compensation during the entire time of her absence from MDHS. This circumstance is clearly not the sort of “offense” that is contemplated by Group III of the State Employee Handbook.


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