The opinion
DODDIE SMITH * NO. 2019-CA-0393
VERSUS *
COURT OF APPEAL
CIVIL SERVICE *
COMMISSION FOURTH CIRCUIT
*
STATE OF LOUISIANA
*******
APPEAL FROM
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
NO. 8992
******
Judge Regina Bartholomew-Woods
******
(Court composed of Judge Edwin A. Lombard, Judge Sandra Cabrina Jenkins,
Judge Regina Bartholomew-Woods)
Larry Edward Demmons
3201 Ridgelake Drive
Metairie, LA 70002
COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT
Brendan M. Greene
NEW ORLEANS CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
1340 Poydras Street, Suite 900
New Orleans, LA 70112
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLEE
AFFIRMED
NOVEMBER 27, 2019
Appellant sought extraordinary pay from the Civil Service Commission
pursuant to Civil Service Commission Rule IV, § 2.7. In recognition of Appellant’s
experience and years of service, but not pursuant to Rule IV, § 2.7, the Civil
Service Commission increased Appellant’s pay, but refused to make the pay
increase retroactive. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the ruling of the Civil
Service Commission.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
For nineteen (19) of her thirty (30) year career in human resources, Plaintiff-
Appellant, Doddie Smith (“Appellant”), has worked as a personnel administrator
with the Civil Service Department for the City of New Orleans.1 On July 10, 2016,
the New Orleans Police Department hired Mr. Dwayne Pierce as a Police Human
Resources Administrator. Because of his twenty (20) years of human resources
experience,2 Mr. Pierce was provided a starting salary 25% above the minimum
1
Appellee acknowledges that Appellant has “dedicated a large portion of her professional life to
providing excellent service to City departments and employees as they navigate various
personnel issues.”
2
Mr. Pierce’s twenty (20) years of human resources experience was considered an
“extraordinary qualification” as contemplated by Civil Service Rule IV, § 2.7.
1
starting salary for this position. On November 14, 2018, Appellant submitted a
request3 to Ms. Lisa Hudson, Director of Civil Service, for extraordinary pay
pursuant to Rule IV, § 2.7.4 Appellant asserted that because Mr. Pierce’s twenty
(20) years of human resources experience was considered an extraordinary
qualification that warranted increased pay, so should her twenty-eight (28) years of
professional experience (seventeen (17) of those twenty-eight (28) years were
3
On December 3, 2018, Shelly Stolp, another Personnel Administrator, made the same request.
Ultimately, Ms. Stolp was awarded the increased pay, but amended her request to forgo
retroactive pay.
4
Civil Service Commission Rule IV, § 2.7 provides:
Subject to the revocation of the Personnel Director, an appointing authority may
pay an original, temporary, provisional or regular employee a pay rate of up to the
midpoint of the pay range upon appointment, subject to the following conditions and
limitations:
(a) That the appointee possesses extraordinary or superior
qualifications/credentials above and beyond the minimum qualifications, experience,
and/or credentials required which have been verified and documented as job related, and
that the amount of additional pay shall be justified based on an objective analysis of the
additional financial advantage the increased hiring rate will provide to the city.
(b) That the duties and responsibilities of a position require the employment of a
person with qualifications/credentials that differ significantly from those normally
required for other positions in the same class, and the persons who possess such
qualifications are not readily available in the labor market at the minimum entrance rate
in the pay grade;
(c) That the pay rate is subject to review by the Civil Service Commission;
(d) The salaries of all current probationary and permanent employees who occupy
positions in the same job classification and who possess the same or equivalent
qualifications, experience, and/or credentials shall be adjusted up to but not to exceed the
rate granted to that employee provided that the qualifications, experience, and/or
credentials are also verified and documented in the same manner as that employee. Such
adjustments shall only be made on the same date that the higher pay rate is given to that
employee;
(e) The Commission shall have exclusive, final authority to validate the
qualifications, experience, and/or credentials credited for purposes of this subsection;
(f) The appointing authority must post all special rates given in a location that is
accessible to all employees. The appointing authority must assure that the posting
remains in place permanently or is replaced when appropriate.
2
acquired in the Personnel Administrator position). On December 17, 2018, the
Civil Service Commission (“the CSC”) considered Appellant’s request for
increased pay. Again, on January 28, 2019, the CSC considered Appellant’s
request. Thereafter, the CSC granted Appellant’s increased pay, but declined to
make the increased pay retroactive to Mr. Pierce’s July 10, 2016 hiring date. It is
from this ruling that Appellant appeals.
DISCUSSION
Appellant’s sole assignment of error addresses whether the CSC erred in
denying her request for retroactive pay after granting her request for extraordinary
pay pursuant to Rule IV, § 2.7(d).
Standard of Review
“Decisions of the [Civil Service] Commission are subject to appellate review
on any questions of law or fact.” Winford v. Dep’t of Police, 2009-0770, p. 4 (La.
App. 4 Cir. 3/3/10); 33 So.3d 949, 951; La. Const. Art. X, Section 12(B); Walters
v. Dep’t of Police of New Orleans, 454 So.2d 106, 113 (La.1984). Further, on
appeal, “[t]he appellate court reviews the Commission’s findings of fact using the
clearly wrong or manifest error standard of review.” Liang v. Dept. of Police,
2013-1364, p. 8 (La. App. 4 Cir. 8/20/14), 147 So.3d 1221, 1225. Further, “[a]n
appellate court accords great deference to mixed questions of fact and law.” Orazio
v. Dep’t of Police, 2019-0230, p. 7 (La. App. 4 Cir. 6/19/19); 275 So.3d 340,
345, writ denied, 2019-01174 (La. 10/15/19), 2019 WL 557363. Here, Appellant’s
3
assignment of error presents an interpretation of fact and law governed by the
manifest error or clearly erroneous standard of review.
Discussion
Appellant acknowledges that “the only pertinent inquiry is whether positions
at issue were in the same job classification.” Appellant reasons that because the
CSC granted her request for increased pay, the CSC had “made a determination
that those two employees [Appellant and Mr. Pierce] occupied ‘positions in the
same job classification’ and ‘possess the same or equivalent qualifications,
experience, and/or credentials.’” And, for that reason, Appellant argues that she is
entitled to retroactive pay pursuant to Rule IV, § 2.7(d). In response to Appellant’s
argument, the CSC contends that Appellant focuses only on the second prong of
the Rule IV, § 2.7(d), which addresses employees “who possess the same or
equivalent qualifications, experience, and/or credentials.” The CSC argues that
Rule IV, § 2.7(d) is not triggered because Appellant does not occupy the “same job
classification” as the employee to whom she compared herself. The CSC asserts
that rather than applying Rule IV, § 2.7, it applied an exception to that rule, and
increased Appellant’s pay solely in recognition of her years of service.
Analysis
CSC Rule IV, § 2.7(d) provides:
The salaries of all current probationary and
permanent employees who occupy positions in the same
job classification and who possess the same or
equivalent qualifications, experience, and/or credentials
shall be adjusted up to but not to exceed the rate granted
to that employee provided that the qualifications,
experience, and/or credentials are also verified and
4
documented in the same manner as that employee. Such
adjustments shall only be made on the same date that the
higher pay rate is given to that employee.
The CSC provides the following:
Per the job announcement and documentation prepared
by the Civil Service Department, an employee filling the
position of “Police Human Resource Administrator”
performs the following duties:
Under general direction of the Assistant
Superintendent of Police, this position serves
as N.O.P.D.’s Human Resource Manager by
managing and directing the activities of
subordinate staff providing a wide range of
human resources support for the department,
including acting as a liaison with the civil
service, finance and law departments. Work
includes departmental recruitment and
selection activities, managing transfers and
personnel orders, employee relations, and
employee discipline and grievances. This
position participates in consent decree
activities and various committees. Work also
includes planning, organizing, directing and
evaluating the performance of assigned staff;
establishing performance requirements and
personal development targets; and related
duties as required.
Conversely, an employee occupying the classification
of Personnel Administrator is responsible for the
following:
Highly responsible administrative,
technical, professional and supervisory
work directing and coordinating the
activities of one or more comprehensive
components or functions of the City’s
central personnel/human resource
management agency; and related work as
required.
Accordingly, not only do the job titles differ, but so do the duties and
responsibilities. The CSC maintains that while Appellant did not qualify for
5
increased pay pursuant to the CSC Rule IV, § 2.7(d), it recognized Appellant was a
valued employee and, for that reason, increased Appellant’s pay as an exception to
Rule IV, § 2.7(d).
Because Appellant does not occupy the same job classification as the
employee to whom she compared herself, she is not entitled to retroactive
increased pay pursuant to the CSC Rule IV, § 2.7(d). Accordingly, the CSC’s
decision to decline Appellant’s request for retroactive pay was not clearly wrong or
manifestly erroneous. For that reason, we affirm the CSC’s ruling.
CONCLUSION
For the aforementioned reasons, we affirm the CSC’s ruling.
AFFIRMED
6