Fields v. City of Clarksdale
Docket Number: | 2008-CA-00316-COA | |
Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 02-09-2010 Opinion Author: Ishee, J. Holding: Reversed and remanded. |
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Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Employee termination - Abandonment of appeal - URCCC 5.05 - M.R.A.P. 2(a)(2) - Notice of deficiency Judge(s) Concurring: King, C.J., Lee and Myers, P.JJ., Irving, Griffis, Barnes, Roberts and Maxwell, JJ. Dissenting Author : Carlton, J., without separate written opinion. Procedural History: Dismissal Nature of the Case: CIVIL - OTHER; Dismissal |
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Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 01-22-2008 Appealed from: Coahoma County Circuit Court Judge: KENNETH L. THOMAS Disposition: DISMISSED FIELDS’S APPEAL FOR FAILURE TO PROSECUTE Case Number: 14-CI-07-0105 |
Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
Appellant: | BILLY J. FIELDS |
DAVID NEIL MCCARTY, DEREK D. HOPSON, MELISSA SELMAN MARTIN, DREW MCLEMORE MARTIN |
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Appellee: | CITY OF CLARKSDALE, MISSISSIPPI | CURTIS D. BOSCHERT, WILLIAM HARVEY GRESHAM, JR. |
Synopsis provided by: If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
Topic: | Employee termination - Abandonment of appeal - URCCC 5.05 - M.R.A.P. 2(a)(2) - Notice of deficiency |
Summary of the Facts: | Billy Fields was terminated from his position as a captain with the Clarksdale Fire Department. He appealed his termination to the Clarksdale Civil Service Commission, which affirmed the decision. Fields filed his notice of appeal to the circuit court which dismissed his appeal. Fields appeals. |
Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Fields filed his notice of appeal on September 7, and on or about September 26, he learned of the cost of the transcript and that the Commission was under the impression that he was responsible for the cost of the transcript. Fields then waited until October 18, to file a motion with the circuit court requesting that the City pay for the transcript. Based on these facts, the circuit court found that Fields waited forty days before he requested the assistance of the court in compelling the Commission to file the transcript. Pursuant to URCCC 5.05, the circuit court found that this exceeded the allowable thirty days and that Fields had abandoned his appeal. Fields argues that URCCC 5.05 should be complementary to M.R.A.P. 2(a)(2). He argues that application of Rule 2(a)(2) to his appeal from the Commission requires that he be given notice of the deficiency and fourteen days to correct it. It was in error for the circuit court to have dismissed Fields’s appeal. Under Rule 2(a)(2), Fields was entitled to notice from the circuit clerk of the deficiency in his appeal and fourteen days to correct any deficiency. This ruling does not conflict with the language of Rule 5.05. The circuit court may still dismiss an appeal for which an appellant has failed to timely provide a record. |
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