ROBERT K. PAQUIN ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
CITY OF LIGHTHOUSE POINT, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION UNDER THE LAWS OF FLORIDA, AND L. W. QUICK, AS CHIEF OF POLICE OF THE CITY OF LIGHTHOUSE POINT, APPELLEES
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PER CURIAM.
Upon consideration of the briefs, oral argument and the record on appeal we are of the opinion that the appellants were improperly'classified as “employees” of the appellee-city which classification resulted in the unauthorized termination of their employment as policemen. The law recognizes that the status of a policeman 'is that of an “officer” rather than an “employee”. Maudsley v. City of North Lauderdale, Fla.App. 4th 1974, 300 So. 2d 304. Given the absence of a provision in the appellee-city’s charter controlling removal of municipal officers, appellants should have been discharged from employment pursuant to the provisions of the general law then in existence, i.e., section 165.18, F.S. See also Burklin v. Willis, Fla.App. 1st 1957, 97 So. 2d 129.
The remaining points raised on appeal need not be discussed in light of our decision. Accordingly, the final judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith.
REVERSED.
WALDEN, C. J., and MAGER, J., concur. CROSS, J., dissents, with opinion.
CROSS, Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent.
It is my opinion that appellants were employees of appellee-city for the purpose of termination of their employment under the city charter. As such, no reversible error was demonstrated by their discharge. I would affirm the final judgment herein appealed.
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Town OF Pembroke Park v. Fla. State Lodge, 501 So. 2d 1294 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)…t of mitigation. FOP contends PERC erred in ruling that police officers were not entitled to gross back pay without any set-offs. It argues that, as was held in Curry v. Hammond, 154 Fla. 63, 16 So. 2d 523 (1944), Paquin v. City of Lighthouse Point, 330 So. 2d 866 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976), and Maudsley v. City of North Lauderdale, 300 So. 2d 304 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974), police officers are not ordinary “employees,” but, rather, are “officers” and, as such, unlike “employees,” any back pay due them for improper termina…
Authorities Cited
- Burklin v. Willis, 97 So. 2d 129 (Fla. 1st DCA 1957)
- Maudsley v. City OF N. Lauderdale, 300 So. 2d 304 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974)