THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 3, 1994 TAG: 9409030491
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
A group of state employees who lost their jobs under the Allen administration's recent cutbacks filed suit Friday against the governor and other top state officials.
The lawsuit, filed in Richmond Circuit Court, claims the plaintiffs were illegally dismissed, and it seeks their reinstatement, along with back pay, lost benefits and unspecified damages.
Gov. George F. Allen, who came into office seeking to change state government, has eliminated more than 400 jobs. Critics say some longtime public employees were fired without basis and that the Republican governor has appointed inexperienced political supporters.
Three of the four plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit recently lost their state jobs. The abolishment of their classified positions ``was an illegal and unconstitutional taking of their property . . . without due process of law,'' the lawsuit said.
Ken Stroupe, Allen's spokesman, declined comment. Stroupe said Attorney General James Gilmore will review the lawsuit, a copy of which was sent by fax to the governor's office Friday afternoon.
The suit challenges a change in the law that went into effect July 1. State lawmakers amended the Virginia Personnel Act, effectively expanding the number of state employees who can be let go without cause.
Previously, state law only exempted from grievance procedures employees of the executive branch who reported directly to the agency head. Immediate subordinates of those employees who were at least Grade 16 in the state classification system or above also were exempt.
``The reporting lines are being drawn arbitrarily,'' said Carolyn Carpenter, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs. ``They're being set up to be terminated without the protections of the law.''
State law establishes two means by which the state can terminate classified employees: violation of state standards of conduct or the abolishment of the classified position.
Classified employees who lose their jobs can file grievances.
The plaintiffs are:
Marilyn Mandel of Richmond, a former planning and policy manager with the Department of Labor and Industry. She worked for the department for nine years until losing her job Aug. 15. Mandel said that in June her department head told her that she would begin reporting directly to him. In July, she learned her position was being abolished.
Barbara P. Bennett of Richmond, a former human services program supervisor with the Department of Rehabilitative Services. She worked for the department from January until July 28. Bennett said she began reporting to her department commissioner in July after the assistant commissioner was let go. She was notified three weeks later that her position had been abolished.
Arthur R. Spencer of Richmond, a former agency management analyst supervisor, also with the Department of Rehabilitative Services. He was with the department from January until July 28, when he was told his position was being abolished.
Robert F. Crawford of Richmond, a computer systems engineer with the Department of Rehabilitative Services, where he has worked since 1987.
Crawford joined the lawsuit because he was reclassified Aug. 10 as what is known as a ``776 employee'' - someone who reports directly to an agency head, Carpenter said. He seeks protection as a classified employee.
``The relief they're looking for is that the law be declared unconstitutional and that they be put in the jobs or classifications that they were in,'' she said.
In addition to the governor, the 22-page lawsuit also names as defendants Jay Timmons, Allen's chief of staff; Secretary of Administration Michael Thomas; Secretary of Health and Human Services Kay Coles James; Secretary of Commerce and Trade Robert T. Skunda; Charles E. James Sr., director of the Department of Personnel Training; Theron J. Bell, commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry; Ronald C. Gordon, commissioner of the Department of Rehabilitative Services, and William E. Landsidle, comptroller of Virginia.
The defendants have 21 days to respond to the lawsuit once they have been formally notified. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Gov. George Allen F. has eliminated more than 400 state jobs.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT by CNB