DocketNumber: Appeal, No. 1637 C.D. 1978
Citation Numbers: 45 Pa. Commw. 553
Judges: Craig, Crumlish, Mencer
Filed Date: 9/11/1979
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 6/24/2022
Opinion by
Section 1190 of The Borough Code, Act of February 1, 1966, P.L. (1965) 1656, as amended, 53 P.S. §46190, insofar as relevant to this case, requires that, when a reduction of the police force is necessary for economy reasons, “the reduction shall be effected by furloughing the man or men . . . last appointed to the . . . force.” (Emphasis added.) In this case, the Borough Council of the Borough of McKees Rocks furloughed three officers for reasons of economy. There is no question that the first two officers selected were the most recent appointees and were properly furloughed.
John Kuruce, the officer selected by the Borough Council for furlough instituted an action in mandamus in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County seeking to compel his reinstatement. That court granted relief to Kuruce,
“Mandamus is an extraordinary writ which lies to compel the performance of a ministerial act or mandatory duty where there is clear legal right in the plain
Kuruce’s arguments to the contrary are entirely lacking in merit. The fact that Kuruce’s name was listed first on the motion to appoint the four men to the force does not create a clear legal right in Kuruce to be furloughed last. The motion was voted upon as a whole by the Borough Council, and the appointments occurred simultaneously when the motions passed. Similarly, the fact that Kuruce’s name is listed above the other three officers in the Borough’s payroll records is a trivial fact which creates no legal rights whatsoever.
Order reversed.
Order
And Now, this 11th day of September, 1979, the order of the Court of Common Pleas .of Allegheny County, dated June 20,1978, dismissing the exceptions of the Borough of McKees Bocks to the decision and
The first two officers furloughed, Donald Panyko and Thomas Logue, contended below that they had been improperly discriminated against, but this contention was rejected by the lower court. Panyko and Logue have not appealed from that decision.
Kuruce had already been reinstated prior to the lower courts decision, but that court awarded back pay to Kuruce in the amount of $2,350.