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Hagerman v. Dayton

Supreme Court of Ohio
Jan 22, 1947
147 Ohio St. 313 (Ohio 1947)

Summary

involving payroll deductions

Summary of this case from Cincinnati Gas Elec. v. Pub. Util. Comm

Opinion

No. 30703

Decided January 22, 1947.

Appeal — Moot questions not adjudicated, when — Assignment of wages or salary invalid, when — Section 6846-13, General Code (118 Ohio Laws, 656) — Municipal corporation not within term "employer" — Civil service appointee not within definition of "employer" — Municipal ordinance authorizing check-off of salary of civil service appointee — Invalid as police regulation in conflict with general law — Sections 3 and 7, Article XVIII, Constitution — Classified civil service — Regulated exclusively by the constitution and laws, rules and regulations thereunder — Delegation of functions of municipality or civil service appointees, not authorized.

1. When it has been brought to the attention of an appellate court that pending the appeal an event has occurred which renders moot one of the questions in the case pending before it, such appellate court need proceed no further with that part of the case which has become moot. ( Miner v. Witt, City Clerk, 82 Ohio St. 237, approved and followed.)

2. Under Section 6346-13, General Code (118 Ohio Laws, 656), any assignment of or order for wages or salary was invalid in the absence of a contract or agreement coming within the exception provided in such section.

3. A municipal corporation of the state of Ohio does not come within the meaning of "employers" as used in Section 6346-18, General Code (118 Ohio Laws, 656).

4. Civil service appointees do not come within the definition of "employes" as used in Section 6346-18, General Code (118 Ohio Laws, 656).

5. A municipal ordinance which provides for or authorized a check-off of the wages or salary of civil service appointees is a police regulation and is in conflict with Section 6346-13, General Code. (Sections 3 and 7 of Article XVIII, Ohio Constitution.)

6. The appointment, tenure, promotion, removal, transfer, lay-off, suspension, reduction, reinstatement or dismissal and working conditions of persons in the classified civil service of the state, the several counties, cities and city school districts thereof, are regulated exclusively by Section 10 of Article XV of the Ohio Constitution and the laws, rules and regulations enacted in pursuance thereof.

7. There is no authority for the delegation of any powers or functions of either a municipality or its civil service appointees to any organization of any kind.

APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Montgomery county.

The Dayton Public Service Union, which is chartered by the American Federation of Labor, is an association composed solely of individual members who are employees in the service of the public and approximately 550 of whom are in the classified service of Dayton. There is a school chapter with a membership of around 175, which is a part of the union. At the head of such union is John O. Forbes, one of the, appellees herein, who is a meter reader in the classified service of the city of Dayton.

Pursuant to an agreement between the officers of the city of Dayton and the Dayton Public Service Union, ordinance No. 15776 was passed by the city of Dayton, authorizing deductions from wages of persons in the classified service of the city and payment thereof to Dayton Public Service Union in satisfaction of employees' obligations for union dues.

Ordinance No. 15776 provides:

"Authorizing the director of finance to make payroll dues deductions as requested by city employes.

"Whereas, many of the employes of the city of Dayton have presented to the director of finance signed authorizations requesting and authorizing the director of finance, as fiscal officer of said city, to deduct from their first pay check each month a sum of money to be paid by said director to the treasurer of the Dayton Public Service Union, which deductions or partial wage assignments are made terminable by the employe by giving ten (10) days written notice to said director; and

"Whereas, the charter of the city of Dayton provides, in part, that the city 'may pass such ordinances as may be expedient for maintaining and promoting the peace, good government, and welfare of the city and for the performance of the functions thereof;' and

"Whereas, said charter further provides that 'the city shall have and may exercise all other powers which, under the Constitution and laws of Ohio, it would be competent for this charter specifically to enumerate;' and

"Whereas, it is represented to this commission that these requests for union dues deductions, under a wage assignment plan, are for the exclusive benefit of the employes of the city of Dayton; and

"Whereas, it is necessary for the preservation of the public peace, property, health and safety that this ordinance take effect immediately upon its passage, therefore

"Be it ordained by the commission of the city of Dayton:

"Section 1. That the director of finance of the city of Dayton be and he hereby is authorized, pursuant to the provisions of the charter of the city, to recognize said assignments of wages as a voluntary check-off on the wages of the employes of the city belonging to a labor union, as referred to in Section 6346-13 of the General Code of Ohio, and to deduct from the salaries or wages of such city employes as voluntarily subscribe to said plan such amounts monthly as shall have been stipulated by such employes in written authorizations or assignments filed with said director of finance requesting such deductions. The director of finance is also hereby authorized to make remittance to the treasurer of the Dayton Public Service Union of the aggregate amount of such sums so authorized to be deducted and to transmit the same to said labor union on or before the fifteenth day of the month following the date of such deductions.

"Section 2. For the reasons stated in the preamble hereof, this ordinance is declared an emergency measure and shall take effect immediately upon its passage.

"Passed by the commission, June 14, 1943."

Following the enactment of the foregoing ordinance, appellant, Earl E. Hagerman, as director of finance and city accountant of the city of Dayton, filed his petition in the Common Pleas Court of Montgomery county asking for a declaratory judgment:

"1. To determine the legality and validity of said Ordinance No. 15776 of the city of Dayton, Ohio.

"2. To determine to what extent, if any, your petitioner, Earl E. Hagerman, as director of finance and city accountant of the city of Dayton, Ohio may lawfully utilize the services of the employees and the facilities at his disposal to comply with the provisions of said Ordinance No. 15776 of the city of Dayton, Ohio and to what extent he may use the funds of the city of Dayton, Ohio in paying therefor, and

"3. To afford him such other declarations of the rights and duties of the parties and such other affirmative relief as he may be entitled to either in law or in equity."

The city filed an answer joining in the prayer for a declaratory judgment as follows:

"1. That the enactment of the said ordinance was and is within the legislative power of the city of Dayton, Ohio;

"2. That the plaintiff, Earl E. Hagerman, as its director of finance, may legally and properly comply with all of the terms of the said ordinance and use the personnel and the facilities of his department to make the pay roll dues deductions called for therein;

"3. That its said director of finance, in such compliance, will in no manner subject himself to any liability by reason thereof."

John O. Forbes and others, members of the Dayton Public Service Union, on behalf of the membership of such union, upon their application were made parties and filed an answer in which it was alleged "that no deductions to the favor of defendant the Dayton Public Service Union are made except from the pay of employees who are members of the Dayton Public Service Union and who have filed written assignments to that effect with the director of finance."

Such defendants prayed "that this court declare that General Code Section 6346-13 is a valid and subsisting statute of Ohio preserving to employees of the city of Dayton the right to assign and have deducted from their wages funds sufficient to pay union dues and that as members of the Dayton Public Service Union the rights to check-off on their wages for the payment of their union dues in accord with the agreement to that effect between defendant the city of Dayton and the Dayton Public Service Union, by reason of General Code Section 6346-13 may be preserved to these answering defendants and all others similarly situated; that this court declare that said Ordinance No. 15776 is a valid exercise of legislative power granted to the city commission of defendant the city of Dayton, Ohio; and that this court declare that it is the duty of plaintiff to comply with the provisions of said Ordinance No. 15776, as aforesaid, and also comply with the assignments of wages executed and filed with plaintiff by these answering defendants and others similarly situated; and that this court declare the existence of such other and further rights and relief to which these answering defendants and all others similarly situated may be entitled in the premises."

It was stipulated between the parties, inter alia:

"A portion of the classified employees of the city of Dayton, Ohio who are eligible for membership therein, have selected the Dayton Public Service Union, an unincorporated association, as their agent and representative in discussing and adjusting with their employer, the city of Dayton, Ohio, all questions of wages, hours of work and conditions of employment affecting such member employees."

The case was heard upon the pleadings, stipulation and evidence.

On July 11, 1945, the Court of Common Pleas entered the following "judgment to plaintiff":

"This cause came on to be heard upon the petition of the plaintiff, the answer of the defendant, the city of Dayton, Ohio, the answer of the intervenor, the Dayton Public Service Union, the reply of the plaintiff, the stipulation of facts, the testimony adduced, briefs of counsel and the court having been fully advised in the premises did render a decision herein on April 24, 1945, upon which a finding entry was entered upon May 25, 1945. To this decision and entry, all the parties hereto filed motions for a new trial.

"The court having fully considered all of said motions upon their merits, the same are hereby overruled.

"It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed as follows:

"1. All facts set forth in the stipulations are found by the court to be true.

"2. The service necessary to compute, deduct and transmit union dues from wages of city employees requires the expenditure of more than a nominal, if only a small, amount of public moneys, and the deduction of union dues from wages and salaries due from city employee-union members, the recording thereof, together with the transmission of the same to the Dayton Public Service Union, requires the use of equipment and supplies belonging to the defendant, the city of Dayton, Ohio, and the expenditure of a portion of the time and skill of the employees of its department of finance working under plaintiff's direction.

"3. That the form of 'Authorization for union dues payroll deductions' as signed by the city employee-union members would constitute valid wage assignments, upon conforming with the provisions of Section 6346-12 of the General Code of Ohio, when accepted by the city through the passage of a valid ordinance to consummate an agreement between the employer-city and employee within the meaning of the language of the second sentence of Section 6346-13, General Code.

"4. That the union dues deductions are for the private convenience and benefit of the city employees who are members of the union and for the benefit of the union itself, and as such the cost or expense involved in making such deductions would have to come from sources other than public funds.

"5. That Ordinance No. 15776 of the city of Dayton, Ohio, is only a legal and valid exercise of power and authority by the city commission of the city of Dayton, Ohio, upon such commission making provisions for collecting the expense of the service rendered by the department of finance from sources other than public funds.

"6. That plaintiff, as director of finance and city accountant, may lawfully utilize the facilities of the department of finance of said city to comply with the provisions of said ordinance only upon the condition that the cost of such services and facilities is provided for from sources other than public funds.

"7. That plaintiff recover his costs herein expended and be permitted to go hence without day.

"To findings number 3, 5 and 6 and the decision of the court, plaintiff, Earl E. Hagerman, by his counsel, excepts.

"To findings number 4, 5, 6 and 7 and the decision of the court, defendant, the city of Dayton, by its counsel, excepts.

"To findings number 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and the decision of the court, defendants, John O. Forbes, et al. as members of the Dayton Public Service Union, by their counsel, except."

On July 17, 1945, an appeal was taken to the Court of Appeals under the following notice:

"The plaintiff, Earl E. Hagerman, hereby gives notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals from a judgment rendered by the Court of Common Pleas in the above entitled cause on the 11th day of July, 1945. Said appeal is on questions of law and fact."

The following stipulation was filed in the Court of Appeals under date of September 18, 1945:

"The parties to the above-entitled action agree that this cause shall be submitted to this court on appeal upon the transcript of the evidence submitted to the court below, to wit: The Common Pleas Court of Montgomery county, Ohio, and the agreed statement of facts set forth in the stipulation signed by all counsel and filed in said case below, and that said evidence and stipulation shall be and constitute the evidence and agreed statement of facts in this case in this court."

Subsequent to the decision of the Court of Common Pleas, the Dayton city commission passed ordinance No. 15937, as follows:

"An ordinance * * * to make provision for collecting the expenses incurred by the Department of Finance in connection with union dues deductions from sources other than public funds, fixing the amount to be paid to the city to cover such expense and directing the dismissal of the appeal in the test suit asking for a declaratory judgment.

"Whereas, this commission has heretofore passed Ordinance No. 15776, entitled 'An ordinance authorizing the director of finance to make pay roll dues deductions as requested by city employees'; and

"Whereas, the Common Pleas Court of Montgomery county, Ohio, by a judgment entry filed in the case of Earl E. Hagerman, as Director of Finance and City Accountant v. The City of Dayton, being No. 94413, has held, in part:

" 'That Ordinance No. 15776 of the city of Dayton, Ohio, is only a legal and valid exercise of power and authority by the city commission of the city of Dayton, Ohio, upon such commission making provision for collecting the expense of the service rendered by the department of finance from sources other than public funds.

" 'That plaintiff as director of finance and city accountant may lawfully utilize the services and facilities of the department of finance of said city to comply with the provisions of said ordinance only upon the condition that the cost of such service and facilities is provided for from sources other than public funds, and

"Whereas, a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals from said judgment in the above entitled action has been given by Earl E. Hagerman, through his counsel; and

"Whereas, it is the intent and purpose of this ordinance to make provision for collecting the cost of the services rendered by the department of finance in connection with union dues deductions from sources other than public funds during the period beginning with the date of filing said judgment entry in the Common Pleas Court and continuing for an indefinite period; and

"Whereas, after careful consideration of all the duties required of the department of finance in connection with or in any way related to the making of such union dues deductions, the use made of the city's equipment and the amount of paper and other supplies required in connection therewith, it is the opinion of this commission that a fair and reasonable sum to be paid to the city to reimburse it for all expenses incident or in any way connected therewith is an amount equal to five (5) per cent of the dues so collected or deducted by the department of finance; therefore,

"Be it ordained by the commission of the city of Dayton:

"Section 1. That this commission hereby finds that the fair and reasonable cost and expense incurred by the department of finance and the city of Dayton in making the pay roll dues deductions authorized by Ordinance No. 15776, passed June 14, 1943, and in remitting said collections to the treasurer of said union, is an amount equal to five (5) per cent of the dues so collected or deducted.

"Section 2. That this commission, in order to comply fully with the judgment and finding of the Court of Common Pleas in the case above referred to, hereby directs the director of finance of this city to recognize only such assignments of wages made by city employes in payment of their union dues pursuant to the provisions of Ordinance No. 15776, heretofore passed, as specifically provide for him to deduct from such moneys so assigned an amount equal to five (5) per cent thereof to cover all cost and expense incurred by the city in making such deductions and remissions to the union treasurer as aforesaid.

"Section 3. That the five (5) per cent deducted to cover the city's cost and expense shall be paid into the general fund of the city of Dayton.

"Section 4. That it is the determination of this commission that it will be for the best interest of the city of Dayton to pursue the litigation of this issue no further and, consequently, it hereby requests and directs Earl E. Hagerman, as director of finance, through counsel, to take the necessary steps to dismiss the appeal heretofore taken to the Court of Appeals in the case of Earl E. Hagerman, as Director of Finance and City Accountant of the City of Dayton, Ohio, plaintiff, v. The City of Dayton, defendant, being case No. 94413 in the Common Pleas Court of Montgomery county, Ohio.

"Passed by the commission, August 1, 1945."

On December 15, 1945, the following stipulation was filed in the Court of Appeals:

"The parties to the above entitled action agree that the copy of Ordinance No. 15937, passed by the city commission of Dayton, Ohio, on August 1, 1945, and certified to be a true and correct copy of said ordinance by Oscar F. Mauch, clerk of the commission, as attached hereto, represents the formal action taken by the city of Dayton relative to the matters therein concerned as set forth and recited in said ordinance.

"Earl E. Hagerman, by his counsel, reserves exceptions to a filing of this ordinance in the within case and further says that such filing is made upon the sole condition that the parties to this action shall have the right to file supplemental briefs in relation to the newly introduced evidence and shall further be privileged to argue the propriety of the introduction of this matter in any higher court."

After filing of the decision by the Court of Appeals, an application for a rehearing was made and overruled and the following declaratory-judgment entry filed:

"This cause coming on to be heard and submitted for declaratory judgment as an appeal upon questions of law and fact from the Common Pleas Court of Montgomery county, Ohio, on consideration whereof the facts are found to be as recited in the stipulations as to facts filed in the case.

"And the same being further considered by this court and it appearing to the court that by the language of Ordinance 15937 the provisions of Ordinance 15776, upon which the Common Pleas Court pronounced judgment of its invalidity, are no longer subsisting and effective legislation, it is ordered, adjudged, decreed and declared by this court as follows:

"That the question heretofore adjudicated by said Common Pleas Court, determining that the expense or costs involved in making such union dues deduction could not be paid from public funds, is now a moot question upon which this court will express no opinion.

"That an assignment of wages made by a city employe and accepted pursuant to the provisions of ordinance 15776 would constitute an agreement by the employer and its employe in favor of a labor union as contemplated by the language of Section 6346-13 of the General Code of Ohio, relating to a check-off on the wages of such employe, and that the deductions of union dues as provided for by said ordinance is valid and legal practice or procedure.

"That the application of plaintiff-appellant for rehearing heretofore filed in this case be denied and that all costs herein incurred be paid by the city of Dayton, Ohio."

The case is here following the allowance of a motion to certify the record.

Mr. John M. Sprigg, Mr. R.A. Argabright and Mr. John P. Naas, for appellant.

Mr. Herbert S. Beane, city attorney, Mr. Maurice J. Gilbert and Messrs. Harshman Young, for appellees.


This case was appealed to the Court of Appeals on questions of law and fact. No motion was filed in that court to challenge the jurisdiction of that court to entertain the cause upon such appeal.

Under the authorities cited in the per curiam opinion in Trumbull Savings Loan Co. v. Saviers, 115 Ohio St. 403, 154 N.E. 317, the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction to proceed.

The Chief Justice, Judge Bell and the writer are of the opinion that as the instant case was not a chancery case and as the parties had no power to confer jurisdiction upon the Court of Appeals, that court should have retained and decided the case on questions of law. (Section 12223-22, General Code.) However, we must now accept the Saviers case as stare decisis.

Appellant complains that "the Court of Appeals should have reviewed the declaratory judgment of the Court of Common Pleas and either affirmed or reversed said judgment." We cannot sustain this contention of appellant.

Among the matters complained of by appellant is the consideration by the Court of Appeals of ordinance No. 15937, enacted subsequent to the decision of the Court of Common Pleas, and the holding of the Court of Appeals thereon "that the question heretofore adjudicated by said Common Pleas Court determining that the expense or costs involved in making such union dues deductions could not be paid from public funds is now a moot question upon which this court will express no opinion."

It was held in the case of Miner v. Witt, City Clerk, 82 Ohio St. 237, 92 N.E. 21:

"It is not the duty of the court to answer moot questions, and when, pending proceedings in error in this court, an event occurs without the fault of either party, which renders it impossible for the court to grant any relief, it will dismiss the petition in error."

In the case of Mills v. Green, 159 U.S. 651, 653, 40 L.Ed., 293, 16 S.Ct., 132, quoted with approval by this court in its per curiam opinion in the case of Miner v. Witt, supra, Mr. Justice Gray says:

"The duty of this court, as of every other judicial tribunal, is to decide actual controversies by a judgment which can be carried into effect, and not to give opinions upon moot questions or abstract propositions, or to declare principles or rules of law which cannot affect the matter in issue in the case before it. It necessarily follows that when, pending an appeal from the judgment of a lower court, and without any fault of the defendant, an event occurs which renders it impossible for this court, if it should decide the case in favor of the plaintiff, to grant him any effectual relief whatever, the court will not proceed to a formal judgment, but will dismiss the appeal. And such a fact, when not appearing on the record, may be proved by extrinsic evidence."

We are, therefore, of the opinion that the Court of Appeals committed no error in considering ordinance No. 15937. Compare State, ex rel. Apple, v. Pence et al., Bd. of Edn., 137 Ohio St. 569, 31 N.E.2d 841.

The principal question propounded by appellant is: "Did the Court of Appeals commit error when it found that the city of Dayton, Ohio, could enter into a valid agreement with its employees in favor of a labor union as contemplated by the language of Section 6346-13 of the General Code of Ohio relating to a check-off on the wages of such employees by the enactment of an ordinance providing for dues deduction?"

Section 6346-13, General Code (118 Ohio Laws, 656), provided at the time of the enactment of ordinance No. 15776:

"Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 6346-12 of the General Code of Ohio, no assignment of, or order for wages or salary shall be valid if made after this act goes into effect. Nothing herein shall affect or invalidate any contract or agreement between the employers and their employes, or as between employers, employes, and any labor union as to any check-off on the wages of such employes as may be agreed upon."

The constitutionality of the foregoing section, or any part thereof, not having been challenged, we shall not pass upon that question.

Under Section 6346-13, General Code, as it stood at the time of the passage of ordinances No. 15776 and No. 15937, any assignment of, or order for, wages or salary was invalid in the absence of a contract such as described in Section 6346-13, General Code. We are of the opinion that a municipal corporation of the state of Ohio does not come within the meaning of "employers" as used in Section 6346-13, General Code. We are also of the opinion that civil service appointees do not come within the definition of 'employes" as used in such section.

It is earnestly argued by appellees that the municipality has the power to enact the ordinance herein in question, under the home-rule provision of the Ohio Constitution, especially Sections 3 and 7 of Article XVIII thereof.

Section 3 provides:

"Municipalities shall have authority to exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt and enforce within their limits such local police, sanitary and other similar regulations, as are not in conflict with general laws."

Section 7 provides:

"Any municipality may frame and adopt or amend a charter for its government and may, subject to the provisions of Section 3 of this Article, exercise thereunder all powers of local self-government."

Appellees argue that "the ordinance obviously isn't nor is it claimed to be a 'police, sanitary or other similar regulation.' " We cannot agree with this contention. The enactment of any ordinance which is aimed at the preservation of the health, safety, welfare or comfort of citizens of a municipality is the exercise of police power. Ordinance No. 15776 (with or without its supplemental ordinance No. 15937) is the exercise of police power. Ordinance No. 15776 conflicts with a general law, to wit, Section 6346-13, General Code, which provides that no wage assignments except those specifically exempted shall be valid. The wage assignments covered by ordinance No. 15776 do not come within the exception of the statute.

There is no municipal purpose served by the checkoff of wages of civil service employees. Counsel for appellees argue that a check-off is a convenience to both the municipal appointee and the labor union. We must be realistic and take judicial notice, of what is generally known, that the check-off is a means of maintaining membership. Indeed, the record in this case shows that each so-called contract member is required to give a cognovit note for twenty months dues in advance and these proposed check-off payments are to be applied on such notes. The check-off is contrary to the spirit and purpose of the civil service laws of the state.

Section 10 of Article XV of the Constitution of Ohio provides:

"Appointments and promotions in the civil service of the state, the several counties, and cities, shall be made according to merit and fitness, to be ascertained, as far as practicable, by competitive examinations. Laws shall be passed providing for the enforcement of this provision."

Under this section of the Constitution and the laws enacted pursuant thereto, labor unions have no function which they may discharge in connection with civil service appointees.

Paragraph 10 of the stipulation on which this case was tried reads:

"A portion of the classified employes of the city of Dayton, Ohio, who are eligible for membership therein, have selected the Dayton Public Service Union, an unincorporated association, as their agent and representative in discussing and adjusting with their employer, the city of Dayton, Ohio, all questions of wages, hours of work and conditions of employment affecting such member employes."

The laws of this state, the regulations of the civil service commissions, state and municipal, and the valid ordinances of the particular municipality cover fully all questions of wages, hours of work and conditions of employment affecting civil service appointees. Municipal civil service appointees are to be appraised and promotions are to be made in individual cases according to merit, fitness and seniority. There is no authority for the delegation either by the municipality or the civil service appointees of any functions to any organization of any kind. Each tub must stand on its own bottom. The law provides for the election and appointment of officials whose duties would be interfered with by the intrusion of outside organizations. Nothing said herein is intended to limit free speech but it is intended to limit interference by organizations with the duties of the duly elected and appointed officials.

Section 486-1, General Code [Section 486-1 a, General Code], defines terms and in paragraph 6 thereof provides:

"The term 'appointing authority' signifies the officer, commission, board, or body having the power of appointment to or removal from positions in any office, department, commission, board or institution."

Section 486-2, General Code, provides that appointments to, and promotions in, the civil service shall be made only according to merit and fitness to be ascertained as far as practicable by competitive examinations; that, after an appointment is made, removals, transfers, lay-offs, suspensions, reinstatements, promotions or reductions shall not be made in any manner or by any means other than those prescribed in the civil service act or by the rules of the state or municipal civil service commissions.

Under Section 486-7, General Code, it is the duty of the state and municipal civil service commissions to make investigations in all matters touching the enforcement and effect of the civil service laws and the administrative rules of the commissions.

Subdivision ( b) of Section 486-8, General Code, provides:

"The classified service shall comprise all persons in the employ of the state, the several counties, cities and city school districts thereof, not specifically included in the unclassified service, to be designated as the competitive class and the unskilled labor class.

"1. The competitive class shall include all positions and employments now existing or hereafter created in the state, the counties, cities and city school districts thereof, for which it is practicable to determine the merit and fitness of applicants by competitive examinations. Appointments shall be made to, or employment shall be given in, all positions in the competitive class that are not filled by promotion, reinstatement, transfer or reduction, as provided in this act, and the rules of the commission, by the appointment from those certified to the appointing officer in accordance with the provisions of this act."

As to the unskilled labor class, in addition to providing the rules for registration and the tests to be made, "laborers who fulfill the requirements shall be placed on the eligible list for the kind of labor or employment sought and preference shall be given in employment in accordance with the rating received from such evidence or in such tests. * * *"

Section 486-9 a, General Code, requires citizenship as a condition precedent to civil service examination, while Section 486-10, General Code, provides in part:

"All applicants for positions and places in the classified service shall be subject to examination which shall be public, and open to all, within certain limitations to be determined by the commission, as to citizenship, residence, age, sex, experience, health, habit and moral character; * * *

"Applicants taking promotional examinations, which shall be in writing, shall receive credit for seniority, which shall be determined as follows: One per centum of the total grade attainable in such examination for each of the first four years of service and six-tenths per centum of such total grade for each of the next ten years of service. * * *"

Section 486-11, General Code, provides, inter alia, that the civil service commission shall require persons applying for admission to an examination to file information as to:

"(3) Health and physical capacity for the public service sought.

"(4) Business and employments and residences for five previous years.

"(5) Such other information as may be reasonably required touching the applicant's merit and fitness for the public service sought; * * *

"The commission may refuse to examine an applicant, or after an examination to certify an eligible, who is found to lack any of the established preliminary requirements for the examination or who is physically so disabled as to be rendered unfit for the performance of the duties of the position which he seeks, or who is addicted to the habitual use of intoxicating liquors or drugs to excess, or who has been guilty of any crime or of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct, or who has been dismissed from either branch of the civil service for delinquency or misconduct, or who has made false statements of any material fact, or practiced, or attempted to practice, any deception, or fraud in his application or in his examination, in establishing his eligibility or securing his appointment."

Section 486-12, General Code, provides for the preparation of an, eligible list and the priority of appointments therefrom.

Section 486-13, General Code, provides how appointments shall be made, the probationary period and the record of service and "Appointments to all positions in the classified service, as herein defined, that are not filled by promotion, transfer or reduction, as provided for in this act and the rules of the commission prescribed thereunder, shall be made only from those persons whose names are certified to the appointing officer in accordance with the provisions of this act, and no employment, except as provided in this act, shall be otherwise given in the classified service of this state or any political subdivision thereof. * * *

"All original and promotional appointments shall be for a probationary period of not to exceed three months to be fixed by the rules of the commission, and no appointment or promotion shall be deemed finally made until the appointee has satisfactorily served his probationary period. At the end of the probationary period the appointing officer shall transmit to the commission a record of the employee's service, and if such service is unsatisfactory, the employee may, with the approval of the commission, be removed or reduced without restriction; but dismissal or reduction may be made during such period as is provided for in Sections 486-17 and 486-17 a of the General Code. * * *"

Section 486-15, General Code, provides:

"Vacancies in positions in the classified service shall be filled in so far as practicable by promotions. The commission shall provide in its rules for keeping a record of efficiency for each employe in the classified service, and for making promotions in the classified service on the basis of merit, to be ascertained as far as practicable by promotional examinations, by conduct and capacity in office, and by seniority in service; and shall provide that vacancies shall be filled by promotion in all cases where, in the judgment of the commission, it shall be for the best interest of the service so to fill such vacancies. All examinations for promotions shall be competitive. In promotional examinations efficiency and seniority in service shall form, a part of the maximum mark attainable in such examination. In all cases where vacancies are to be filled by promotion, the commission shall certify to the appointing authority only the name of the person having the highest rating. The method of examination for promotions, the manner of giving notice thereof, and the rules governing the same shall be in general the same as those provided for original examinations, except as otherwise provided herein." (Italics ours.)

Section 486-15 a, General Code, provides the methods and conditions for promotions in positions above the rank of policeman and fireman.

Section 486-16, General Code, provides for transfers and reinstatements.

Section 486-17, General Code, provides the method and conditions of making the reductions, lay-offs and suspensions and contains the following:

"Nothing in this act contained shall limit the power of an appointing officer to suspend without pay, for purposes of discipline, an employe or subordinate for a reasonable period, not exceeding thirty days * * *."

Such section also provides that "the appointing authority shall furnish such employe or subordinate with a copy of the order of lay-off, reduction or suspension and his reasons for the same, and give such employe or subordinate a reasonable time in which to make and file an explanation."

Section 486-17 a, General Code, provides the tenure and method of removal "of every officer, employe or subordinate in the classified service."

Section 486-19, General Code, providing for the creation of municipal civil service commissions, provides in part:

"Such municipal commission shall prescribe, amend and enforce rules not inconsistent with the provisions of this act for the classification of positions in the civil service of such city, city school district, and all the positions in the city health district; for examinations and registrations therefor; and for appointments, promotions, removals, transfers, layoffs, suspensions, reductions and reinstatements therein; and for standardizing positions and maintaining efficiency therein. Said municipal commission shall have and exercise all other powers and perform all other duties with respect to the civil service of such city, city school district and city health district, as herein prescribed and conferred upon the state civil service commission with respect to the civil service of the state; and all authority granted to the state commission with respect to the service under its jurisdiction shall, except as otherwise provided in this act, be held to grant the same authority to the municipal commission with respect to the service under its jurisdiction. * * *

"Whenever the state commission shall have reason to believe that a civil service commission of any city is violating or is failing to perform the duties imposed upon it by law, or that any member of such municipal commission is wilfully or through culpable negligence violating the provisions of the law or failing to perform his duties as a member of such commission, it shall institute an investigation, and if in the judgment of the state commission, it shall find any such violation or failure to perform the duties imposed by law, it shall make a report of such violation in writing to the chief executive authority of such city, which report shall be a public record. * * *"

Section 486-21, General Code, provides in part:

"After the taking effect of this act it shall be unlawful for the auditor of state, or for any fiscal officer of any county, city or city school district thereof, to draw, sign or issue or authorize the drawing, signing or issuing of any warrant on the treasurer or other disbursing officer of the state, or of any county, city or city school district thereof, to pay any salary or compensation to any officer, clerk, employe, or other person in the classified service unless an estimate, payroll or account for such salary or compensation containing the name of each person to be paid, shall bear the certificate of the state civil service commission, or, in case of the service of a city, the certificate of the municipal service commission of such city, that the persons named in such estimate, payroll or account have been appointed, promoted, reduced, suspended, or laid off or are being employed in pursuance of this act and the rules adopted thereunder. * * *"

Section 486-22, General Code, provides:

"Whenever a civil service commission shall have reason to believe that any officer, board, commission, head of a department, or person having the power of appointment, lay-off, suspension or removal, has abused such power by making an appointment, lay-off, reduction, suspension, or removal in violation of the provisions of this act, it shall be the duty of the commission to make an investigation, and if it shall find that such violation of the provisions or the intent and spirit of this act has occurred, it shall make a report thereof to the governor, or in the case of a municipal officer or employe to the mayor or other chief appointing authority, who shall have the power to remove forthwith such guilty officer, board, commission, head of department, or person; an opportunity first having been given to such officer, employe or subordinate of being publicly heard in person or by counsel in his own defense, and such action of removal by the governor, mayor or other chief appointing authority shall be final except as otherwise provided herein."

Section 486-23, General Code, provides:

"No officer, employe or subordinate in the classified service of the state, the several counties, cities and city school districts thereof, shall directly or indirectly, orally or by letter, solicit or receive, or be in any manner concerned in soliciting or receiving any assessment, subscription or contribution for any political party or for any candidate for public office; nor shall any person solicit directly or indirectly, orally or by letter, or be in any manner concerned in soliciting any such assessment, contribution or payment from any officer, employe or subordinate in the classified service of the state, the several counties, cities or city school districts thereof; nor shall any officer or employe in the classified service of the state, the several counties, cities and city school districts thereof be an officer in any political organization or take part in politics other than to vote as he pleases and to express freely his political opinions."

Section 486-29, General Code, preserves the right of action to any taxpayer to bring an action to restrain the payment of compensation in violation of the provisions of the civil service act.

Section 486-30, General Code, provides in substance that prosecutions for the violation of the civil service act and the rules and regulations of any municipal commission shall be instituted by such municipal commission through the legal department of such city or by such municipal commission acting through special counsel.

Therefore, we are of the opinion that ordinance No. 15776, together with its supplement, ordinance No. 15937, is invalid, and that the director of finance and city accountant of the city of Dayton has no right or power to check off for the Dayton Public Service Union, and all assignments of wages made for the purpose of such check-off are invalid.

The judgment of the Court of Appeals herein is hereby reversed and final judgment is awarded appellant.

Judgment reversed.

WEYGANDT, C.J., MATTHIAS and HART, JJ., concur.

ZIMMERMAN and BELL, JJ., concur in the judgment.

SOHNGEN, J., not participating.


I am of the opinion, upon the authority of Trumbull Savings Loan Co. v. Saviers, 115 Ohio St. 403, 154 N.E. 317, that the Court of Appeals did not err in hearing this cause de novo.

The principal question for decision is whether ordinance No. 15776, passed by the commission of the city of Dayton, is a valid and lawful enactment.

By virtue of Section 3, Article XVIII of the Constitution of Ohio, the city of Dayton possesses the authority to exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt and enforce within its limits such local police, sanitary and other similar regulations, as are not in conflict with general laws.

However, as remarked by Judge Johnson in the case of Fitzgerald et al., Board of Deputy State Supervisors, v. City of Cleveland, 88 Ohio St. 338, 344, 103 N.E. 512, 514, Ann. Cas. 1915B, 106, the powers of local self-government thus conferred "are clearly such as involve the exercise of the functions of government." (Emphasis ours.)

Relative to the powers which a municipality may properly exercise, it is stated in 37 American Jurisprudence, 734, Section 119:

"The powers which a municipal corporation may exercise are intended to be used for the advantage of the public and the inhabitants generally and not for the particular advantage of one individual or group of individuals * * *. For this reason, any exercise of power must serve a public or municipal purpose in order to be legal."

In the next section of the same volume of American Jurisprudence it is said:

"Generally, a public purpose has for its objective the promotion of the public health, safety, morals, general welfare, security, prosperity, and contentment of all the inhabitants or residents within the municipal corporation, the sovereign powers of which are used to promote such public purpose. The phrase 'municipal purpose' used in the broader sense is generally accepted as meaning public or governmental purpose as distinguished from private."

See, also, State, ex rel. City of Toledo, v. Lynch, Aud., 88 Ohio St. 71, 102 N.E. 670, 48 L.R.A. (N.S.), 720, Ann. Cas. 1914D, 949.

Consequently, since the ordinance of the city of Dayton under consideration does not accomplish a governmental, public or municipal purpose, but serves merely to promote the private interests of a nonpublic organization, it is ultra vires and invalid.

In other words, the commission of the city of Dayton overstepped its prerogatives by adopting a measure authorizing a governmental department of the municipality to perform extra-governmental services for the benefit of a private enterprise having no connection with the functioning of the city government.

For the reasons and upon the basis stated I concur in the final judgment for the appellant.

BELL, J., concurs in the judgment and also in Judge Zimmerman's concurring opinion, excepting the first paragraph thereof.


Summaries of

Hagerman v. Dayton

Supreme Court of Ohio
Jan 22, 1947
147 Ohio St. 313 (Ohio 1947)

involving payroll deductions

Summary of this case from Cincinnati Gas Elec. v. Pub. Util. Comm

In Hagerman, the Supreme Court construed the predecessor statute of R.C. 1321.32, which, inter alia, provided for the granting of checkoff privileges as an exception to the general prohibition against wage assignments not involving spousal or child support, to not encompass public employers or employees.

Summary of this case from State, ex rel. Ohio Civil Service Employees Ass'n v. Stackhouse, Co.

In Hagerman, supra, the Ohio Supreme Court held unconstitutional an ordinance of the city of Dayton providing for the check-off of union dues.

Summary of this case from Youngstown Ed. Assn. v. Bd.
Case details for

Hagerman v. Dayton

Case Details

Full title:HAGERMAN, DIRECTOR, APPELLANT v. CITY OF DAYTON ET AL., APPELLEES

Court:Supreme Court of Ohio

Date published: Jan 22, 1947

Citations

147 Ohio St. 313 (Ohio 1947)
71 N.E.2d 246

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