DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, APPELLANT,
v.
WILLIAM F. JAMES, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1981-09-09
No. 79-2247
DOWNEY and HURLEY, JJ., concur.
403 So. 2d 1066 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1981) Positive Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Holding

The Career Service Commission exceeded its statutory authority by ordering the Department to offer the employee a different position.


Headnotes

[1] A regulatory body cannot enlarge its authority through the promulgation of rules beyond the authority delegated by statute.

[2] Rules and regulations promulgated by a regulatory body must be consistent with the statutory provisions they are intended to implement and cannot amend those provisions.

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Facts & Procedural History

An employee was dismissed after a serious accident while driving a Department vehicle with a blood alcohol level of 0.19%. The Career Service Commissi…

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Opinion of the Court
GLICKSTEIN, Judge.

GLICKSTEIN, Judge.

This is an appeal by the Department of Transportation from a decision of the Career Service Commission as to the Department’s employee, appellee William F. James. We reverse.

On May 12, 1979, appellee James was traveling from Fort Lauderdale to Clear-water in a Department vehicle. En route and while on official business he stopped twice and consumed alcoholic beverages. At the hearing on his appeal to the Career Service Commission, appellee admitted to three or four drinks at the first stop and one drink at the second. Near Bartow, while traveling 65 miles per hour, appellee was involved in a serious accident when another motor vehicle turned in front of him. The Department vehicle was demolished and three persons, one of whom was appellee, were injured. Investigation of the accident revealed appellee’s blood alcohol level to be an unlawful 0.19 per cent.

Appellee was suspended for thirty days pending completion of the investigation of the accident, and on April 27, 1979, was dismissed effective April 30, 1979. He appealed his dismissal to the Career Service Commission on May 9, 1979, which, in its order filed September 26, 1979, sustained appellee’s dismissal from the position of Public Transportation Specialist I, but ordered the Department to offer appellee the next available position, not requiring travel, for which he is qualified.

The Department contends the Commission was without authority to require the Department to offer appellee the next available position, not requiring travel, for which he is qualified. The Career Service Commission argues in support of its decision that it derived its authority from Florida Administrative Code Rule 22A-10.07(2). That paragraph of the rule, which has not been altered since the date of the accident, provides that after hearing, the Commission shall:

(2) Issue a written order which may sustain, reverse, or alter the decision of the employing agency. The orders of the Career Service Commission may include, but not be limited to, the reinstatement of an employee, with or without back pay; removal of all references to the charges from the employee’s personnel file; or other decisions deemed proper and necessary based on the circumstances of the appeal. (Emphasis supplied)

Although we agree with the Commission that Section 110.061, Florida Statutes (1978 Supp.), applies because it was in effect on the date of the accident,1 that section does not provide a basis for the Commission’s discretion to issue such orders as it deems “proper and necessary.” Section 110.061(3) provided:

(3) The Career Service Commission may:
(a) Order the reinstatement of an employee, with or without back pay.

(b) In its discretion, reduce a dismissal to a suspension for such time as the Commission may fix; or (c) Reduce the period of a suspension, ....

A regulatory body cannot enlarge its authority through promulgation of rules beyond the authority delegated by statute. See Florida Growers Coop Transport v. Department of Revenue, 273 So. 2d 142, 144 (Fla. 1st DCA) cert. denied 279 So. 2d 33 (Fla.1973), wherein our sister court stated:

In innumerable decisions the appellate courts of Florida have pointed out that, where a regulatory body is created by statute and endowed with the authority to promulgate rules and regulations to carry into effect the statutory provisions, the rules and regulations must be consistent with those provisions and must not amend those provisions ....

We hold that the clause underlined in the above quoted rule, which appears to empower the Commission with unbridled discretion, must be given a narrow interpretation in order to be in harmony with the principle articulated in Florida Growers Coop Transport, supra. Since neither Section 110.061(3) nor any other statute empowered the Career Service Commission with the authority to require the Department to offer appellee James another position, such decision was made without lawful authority.

Accordingly, we reverse the decision and remand for consideration of whether the dismissal should be reduced to a suspension, and if so, for what time.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

DOWNEY and HURLEY, JJ., concur. . The Department contends that Section 110.-309(4), Florida Statutes (1979) applies as it became effective July 1, 1979, replacing Section 110.061. Section 110.309(4) provides:

(4) Upon a finding that just cause for disciplinary action existed, but did not justify the severity of the action taken, the commission may, in its discretion:
(a) Reduce a dismissal to a suspension for such time as the Commission may fix; or (b) Reduce the period of a suspension.

As can be seen from the foregoing, there is no language to support the discretion granted by the rule in question; however, we concur with the Commission’s argument that Section 110.061 should govern here because the date of the accident determines the rights of appellee.


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Cited By

  • Childers v. Dep't OF Env't Prot., 696 So. 2d 962 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)
    …isciplinary action arise controls. See Willner v. Department of Prof'l Regulation, Bd. of Med., 563 So. 2d 805 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)(holding statutory amendment after violation took place did not authorize larger fine); Department of Transp. v. James, 403 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)(holding statute enacted subsequent to conduct for which a career service employee was disciplined could not authorize consequences graver than those contemplated by the statute in effect at the time of the dereliction). Statutes…
  • Dep't of Hwy. Safety & Motor Vehicles v. German, 451 So. 2d 1013 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)
    …to it by statute. Since neither section 110.309 nor any other statute gives the Commission the authority to require the Department to offer German another position, the order was made without lawful authority. Department of Transportation v. James, 403 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981). Accordingly, we reverse the order under review and remand with directions to the Commission to affirm German’s dismissal.…
  • Fla. Dep't OF LAW Enf't v. Hinson, 429 So. 2d 723 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)
    …ressly or impliedly authorizes the Commission to direct disposition of the records of the charges and appeal proceedings. An agency may not enlarge its authority beyond that provided in the statutory grant. See Department of Transportation v. James, 403 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981); Seitz v. Duval County School Board, 366 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). Since there is no statutory authority for the rule requiring that appellant turn over to the Commission the documents relating to the charges and appeal, th…

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