Illinois Appellate Court Finds that Firefighters Have A Property Interest In Their Top-Ranking On A Promotional Eligibility List
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Illinois Appellate Court Finds that Firefighters Have A Property Interest In Their Top-Ranking On A Promotional Eligibility List
February 25, 2014
The Illinois Appellate Court for the Second District recently ruled that a top-ranked firefighter has a “property interest” in his or her placement on a promotional eligibility list for constitutional due process purposes. In Chamberlain v. Civil Service Comm’n of the Village of Gurnee, 2014 IL App (2d) 121251, the court addressed (among other things) whether a civil service commission violated the top-ranked candidate’s constitutional due process rights when a lower-ranked candidate was selected for promotion instead. As a threshold matter, the court concluded that the firefighter indeed enjoyed a constitutional property interest in being the highest-ranked candidate. This is due to the Fire Department Promotion Act’s requirement that a top-ranked candidate be selected, unless the appointing authority has reason to conclude that it should pass over that person because of “substantial shortcomings in work-performance,” or because the person’s misconduct affects his ability to perform the duties of the promoted rank. See 50 ILCS 742/20(d). According to the court, such statutory language creates a legitimate claim of entitlement for the highest-ranking candidate to the next available promotion.
This decision has significant implications for public entities who wish to skip a top-ranked firefighter candidate under the Fire Department Promotion Act. Assuming a top-ranked firefighter candidate indeed possesses a protectable property interest in being promoted, that top-ranked candidate is arguably entitled to appropriate pre-deprivation constitutional due process pursuant to Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532 (1985). In the discipline and discharge context, such due process typically takes the form of an informal hearing, at which time an employee can provide reasons for why an employer’s planned employment action should not take place. Constitutional due process might also require sufficient post-deprivation procedures in the form of a more formalized hearing.
In light of the Chamberlain decision, all boards of fire and police commissioners and civil service commissions that oversee firefighter promotions should review their rules and regulations to determine whether they have adequate procedural safeguards in place for those occasions when the appointing authority wishes to skip a top-ranked firefighter candidate. Failure to have such due process provisions may result in constitutional liability if and when a lower-ranked candidate is selected in lieu of a top-ranked candidate.
Please contact your legal counsel if you have any questions, or wish to discuss this matter further. To read the Illinois Appellate Court’s decision in full, click here.
*As published in the IPELRA Newsletter.
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