WALTER KEE, III, PETITIONER,
v.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, RESPONDENT
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Walter Kee, III, a Miami-Dade County garbage truck driver, challenged his two-day suspension for causing an accident and failing to report it. The hearing examiner recommended a reprimand based on Kee's work history and leniency toward similar cases, but the county manager reinstated the suspension. The court denied Kee's certiorari petition, holding that the county manager has complete discretion to determine the appropriate penalty once an offense has been found.
The county manager has complete discretion to determine the appropriate penalty where a hearing officer has found that an offense requiring discipline was committed. The county manager may reject a hearing examiner's penalty recommendation without being bound by considerations of comparative leniency or work history.
[1] A county manager has complete discretion to determine the appropriate penalty for a public employee's offense, even if a hearing examiner recommends a lesser punishment.
[2] A county manager may reject a hearing examiner's recommendation regarding the penalty for a public employee's disciplinary infraction.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the county manager has the complete discretion to determine the appropriate penalty where the hearing officer has decided that an offense requiring discipline was committed”
Establishes the core holding that the county manager's penalty determination is discretionary once guilt is established
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWalter Kee, III, a garbage truck driver for Miami-Dade County, caused an accident on March 3, 1998, damaging a garage door and his truck. Kee did not …
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PER CURIAM.
This is a petition for certiorari review of the affirmance by the circuit court, appellate division, of the county manager’s decision to reject the hearing examiner’s recommendation in an administrative proceeding involving public employee disciplinary matters. We deny the writ because the county manager has the complete discretion to determine the appropriate penalty where the hearing officer has decided that an offense requiring discipline was committed.
Petitioner, Walter Kee, III, drives a garbage truck for Miami-Dade County. On March 3, 1998, Kee had an accident in which he damaged a garage door and the back of his truck. The county imposed a two-day suspension for causing the accident and not reporting it to his supervisor. Kee appealed the disciplinary action and the case proceeded to a hearing. The hearing examiner found that Kee had indeed had an accident and that he had also violated personnel rules and departmental requirements by not reporting it. The examiner, however, reviewed Kee’s excellent work history and the leniency exhibited towards other employees who had been involved in similar accidents and modified the punishment, recommending a reprimand. The county manager rejected this recommendation and reinstated the suspension, reasoning that the failure to report the accident justified the harsher punishment.
The petitioner relies on Town of Surfside v. Higgenbotham, 733 So. 2d 1040 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999), to support his argument that the county’s decision was wrong and the affirmance by the circuit court, appellate division constituted a departure from the essential requirements of the law. This reliance is misplaced. Higgenbotham partially receded from Metropolitan Dade County v. Bannister, 683 So. 2d 130 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996), in which this Court reached two conclusions: (1) that the county manager could conduct a de novo review of the record, and that such a decision could not be disturbed unless there was no substantial competent evidence in the record to support it; and (2) that the manager would have the complete discretion to determine the appropriate penalty where the hearing officer decided that an offense had been committed by the employee. Higgenbotham, 733 So. 2d at 1044. The Court in Higgenbotham only receded from the first Bannister principle, leaving intact the second. Thus, we hold that the county manager had the discretion to reinstate the two-day suspension initially imposed in this case.
Petition denied.
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Miami-Dade Cnty. v. Jones, 778 So. 2d 409 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)…and the recommendation to reinstate Jones. The Trust president “had the complete discretion to determine the appropriate [*411] penalty where the hearing officer decided that an offense had been committed by the employee.” Kee v. Miami-Dade County, 760 So. 2d 1094 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (citing Town of Surfside v. Higgenbotham, 733 So. 2d 1040 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)); Code of Metropolitan Dade County, Florida § 2-47; see also Raghunandan v. Miami-Dade County, 777 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (“The issue of whether…
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City OF Miami v. Jean-Phillipe, 232 So. 3d 1138 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017)…certiorari by employee); City of Miami v. Reynolds, 34 So. 3d 119 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010) (appeal to circuit court by employee); Miami-Dade Cnty. v. Jones, 778 So. 2d 409 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (appeal to circuit court by employee); Kee v. Miami-Dade Cnty., 760 So. 2d 1094 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (appeal to circuit [*1143] court by employee); Town of Surfside v. Higgenbotham, 733 So. 2d 1040, 1047 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999) (appeal to circuit court by employee); City of Hollywood v. Fielding, 362 So. 2d 362 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978) (pe…
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City OF Miami v. Hagan, 235 So. 3d 977 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017)…of City policy, so any such statement is inapplicable to the facts here in any event. . City of Miami v. Reynolds, 34 So. 3d 119 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010), supra; Miami-Dade Cnty v. Jones, 778 So. 2d 409 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (same); Kee v. Miami-Dade Cnty, 760 So. 2d 1094 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (denying petition for certiorari "because the county manager has the complete discretion to determine the appropriate penalty where the hearing officer has decided that an offense requiring discipline was committed.”); City of Mia…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Town OF Surfside v. Higgenbotham, 733 So. 2d 1040 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)
- Metro. Dade Cnty. v. Bannister, 683 So. 2d 130 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)