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Kelly v. City of New Haven9/27/2005
The sole issue in this consolidated appeal is whether the methodology for promoting police officers currently utilized by the defendants, the city of New Haven (city) and certain city officials; see footnote 1 of this opinion; whereby civil service examination scores are rounded to whole numbers and then treated as score groups, violates the New Haven charter (charter) provisions limiting the discretion that may be exercised in such promotions. The plaintiffs, certain city police officers who were passed over for promotion; see footnote 1 of this opinion; sought, in three separate actions, equitable and legal relief, alleging that this methodology violates the so called "rule of three" under the charter and the city's civil service rules and regulations (civil service rules) by allowing consideration of all the individuals in the three highest groups of scores created by rounding, rather than the three highest scoring individuals. The plaintiffs also alleged that the defendants' conduct violates the charter's provision prohibiting race-based discrimination in promotions, and the plaintiffs' federal constitutional right to due process and equal protection under 42 U.S.C. ยง 1983.
Specifically, on October 27, 2000, the plaintiff John Kelly and three other police officers initiated an action against the city; its police chief, Melvin Wearing; the city's director of personnel, Tina Burgett; and certain members of the board of police commissioners challenging Eligible List 00-16 for promotion to the rank of lieutenant and Eligible List 98-65 for promotion to the rank of detective (Kelly case). On the plaintiffs' motion, the trial court, Munro, J., issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the defendants from promoting certain candidates until further order of the court. On August 7, 2001, the plaintiff Peter Beckwith initiated an action against the same defendants named in the Kelly case challenging Eligible List 00-31 for promotion to the rank of sergeant (Beckwith case). On May 8, 2003, the plaintiffs Shawn Burns and Peter Beckwith, initiated an action against the city; Wearing, who had since retired; and certain city officials challenging Eligible List 03-02 for promotion to the rank of detective (Burns case). On the plaintiffs' motion in the Burns case, the trial court also issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the defendants from promoting certain candidates. Thereafter, the trial court scheduled a consolidated hearing in all three cases on the plaintiffs' claims for declaratory and permanent injunctive relief solely on the issue of whether the defendants' methodology violated the charter. Following a four day hearing, the trial court, Pittman, J., declared the promotional practices to be in violation of the charter and permanently enjoined the defendants from rounding competitive examination scores so as to create tie scores and from assigning candidates to score groups based on rounded scores. The trial court then rendered partial judgment in the three cases in the plaintiffs' favor.
On appeal to this court, the defendants claim that the trial court improperly concluded that: (1) the charter limits the number of applicants who may be considered for any promotion; and (2) the practice of rounding civil service examination scores violates the charter. To the extent that the claims properly are before this court; see part I of this opinion; we disagree with the defendants and, accordingly, we affirm the partial judgment of the trial court.
The record reveals the following facts that are common to all three cases in this appeal. The plaintiffs are city police officers who sat for and passed civil service examinations for promotion to a higher rank. The charter requires such
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