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Champine v. Milwaukee County3/15/2005
This appeal involves claims by a class ("Class") of current and former non-union salaried and management employees of Milwaukee County who assert that the County is liable to the Class for damages related to the 2002 amendment of MILWAUKEE, WIS., ORDINANCE ("M.C.G.O.") § 17.184, governing the use of non-union employees' accrued sick allowance at the time the employees retire. The Class argues that when the County amended M.C.G.O. § 17.184 in November 2000, and created more generous benefits for non-union employees, the County bound itself to provide those benefits, at a minimum, for the years 2001 through 2004, the years referred to in the ordinance. The Class argues the County is liable for damages to the Class because: (1) the County breached a contract with members of the Class; (2) the Class's benefits became vested before the ordinance was repealed; (3) promissory estoppel prevents the County from reducing the adopted benefits during the stated period of the ordinance; and (4) the Class is entitled to relief under WIS. STAT.§ 109.09, the wage claim statute. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the County and dismissed the Class's claims. We affirm the judgment in part, reverse in part, and remand with directions that the trial court enter judgment consistent with this opinion.
BACKGROUND
On November 2, 2000, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution/ordinance ("2000 Ordinance") that amended and added certain provisions to the M.C.G.O. pertaining to wages and other benefits. The 2000 Ordinance, which the County Board staff and the Class refer to as the "2001-04 Wage & Benefit Package," applied to non-union employees. The introductory "Whereas" clauses make two references to "adjustments for non-represented employees and managers for 2001 through 2004." Some of the adjustments were more generous than previously provided; others were less generous. As pertinent to this case, M.C.G.O. § 17.184 provided a more generous benefit relating to accrued sick allowance at retirement than had previously been available. This section of the 2000 Ordinance creates a new section of the M.C.G.O., which does not mention either a beginning date or an ending date.
Specifically, before adopting the 2000 Ordinance, the County permitted non-union employees, upon retirement, to receive a cash payment for accrued sick allowance up to a maximum of four hundred hours, plus sixteen hours for each one hundred hours or fraction thereof of accrued sick allowance in excess of four hundred hours. The 2000 Ordinance provided that the non-union employees could claim the full value of all of their accrued sick allowance at the time of retirement and it could either be credited towards the cost of health insurance for the employee after retirement, or paid to the retiree in cash, depending on the retiree's date of hire.
After the 2000 Ordinance, numerous labor unions entered into collective bargaining agreements with the County. Those agreements contain essentially the same provisions. Those agreements remained in effect at times covered by the agreements and are not at issue in this appeal.
In the months following the passage of the 2000 Ordinance, much public discussion concerning the generous nature of the benefits ensued. It was determined that the cost of the benefits was significantly more than originally described. Critics claimed the very generous benefits were excessive and had caused a serious budgetary shortfall. Ultimately, as a consequence of having supported the 2000 Ordinance, the County Executive resigned and several members of the County Board who supported the enhanced benefits were recalled. This prompted the County t
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