Spencer v. Civil Service Commission, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-046-18)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-12326 LUIS S. SPENCER vs. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION & another.[1] Suffolk. December 4, 2017. – March 27, 2018. Present: Gants, C.J., Gaziano, Lowy, Cypher, & Kafker, JJ. Commissioner of Correction. Public Employment, Resignation. Civil Service, Decision of Civil Service Commission, Termination of employment, Findings by commission. Jurisdiction, Civil Service Commission. Words, “Termination of his service.” Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on December 8, 2015. The case was heard by Robert N. Tochka, J., on motions for judgment on the pleadings. The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court. David A. Russcol (Monica R. Shah also present) for the plaintiff. Jesse M. Boodoo, Assistant Attorney General, for the defendants. KAFKER, J. The issue presented is whether Luis S. Spencer, who resigned under pressure as Commissioner of Correction (commissioner) in the midst of a public investigation of his oversight of Bridgewater State Hospital, has a right, pursuant to G. L. c. 30, § 46D, to revert to a tenured civil service correction officer II position he last held in 1992. Upon his resignation and the denial of his request to revert, Spencer filed an appeal with the Civil Service Commission (commission). The commission concluded that the right to revert to a civil service position applies only to involuntary terminations, not voluntary resignations, and because Spencer voluntarily resigned, no “termination of his service” had occurred within the meaning of G. L. c. 30, § 46D. Spencer brought a complaint against the commission and the Department of Correction (department), seeking judicial review of the commission’s decision. A judge in the Superior Court affirmed the commission’s decision. Spencer appealed, and we transferred his appeal to this court on our own motion. We conclude that § 46D does not provide a right to revert in these circumstances and that the commission’s interpretation of this ambiguous statutory language is reasonable, as it applies the same rules for reversion to managers as it does to all other civil service employees and avoids the type of manipulation of retirement benefits at issue here. Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the commission. Background. a. Statutory framework. Under the Commonwealth’s civil service statutory scheme, a number of rank and file and lower level management positions, particularly in public safety, are […]