Halderman v. City of Sturgeon

670 S.W.3d 193

Greg HALDERMAN, Respondent,

v.CITY OF STURGEON, Missouri and Tyler Patterson, Appellants.

WD 85066 (consolidated with WD 85080

WD 85252)

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

Filed: May 2, 2023

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer to Supreme Court Denied May 30, 2023

Application for Transfer Denied July 20, 2023

Michael G. Berry ; Kimberly J. Zocher, Jefferson City, for Appellant.

John A. Hirth ; Joanna Trachtenberg, Columbia, for Respondent.

Before Division Four: Gary D. Witt, C.J., and Alok Ahuja and Janet Sutton, JJ.

Alok Ahuja, Judge

In 2017, the Board of Aldermen of the City of Sturgeon voted to terminate the employment of the City's Chief of Police, Greg Halderman. Halderman sued the City, the City's Mayor, and the Aldermen who had voted to terminate him in the Circuit Court of Boone County. Halderman sought judicial review of the City's termination decision. He also alleged that he was entitled to damages because the City and City officials had wrongfully discharged him, and because the City officials had tortiously interfered with his employment contract.

The circuit court ruled that the City had failed to afford Halderman the formal contested-case hearing to which he was entitled, and vacated Halderman's termination. Halderman abandoned his claims against all of the City officials, except for his tortious interference claim against Alderman Tyler Patterson. Following a jury trial, the circuit court entered judgment for Halderman on his wrongful discharge claim against the City, and on his tortious interference claim against Patterson.

The City and Patterson appeal. We affirm the circuit court's determination that Halderman's 2017 termination was contrary to law, because the City failed to provide him with a contested-case hearing. We also affirm the wrongful-discharge judgment against the City. We reverse the judgment against Patterson for tortious interference with contract, however. Finally, we grant Halderman's motion for an award of attorney's fees on appeal against the City, and remand to the circuit court for determination of the amount of Halderman's recoverable fees.

Factual Background

On March 27, 2017, the Board of Aldermen for the City of Sturgeon voted to remove Halderman as Chief of the Sturgeon Police Department pursuant to § 106.273.1.¹ The Board found just cause to remove Halderman under §§ 106.273.1(2)(a), (b), and (f). In support of Halderman's removal, the Board found the following facts:

February 24, 2014 – Chief Halderman admitted to making inappropriate and offensive comments to a minor female. Chief Halderman admitted to getting into the vehicle of the minor female without her permission. The minor female felt uncomfortable with Chief Halderman's inappropriate and offensive comments. This had happened on several occasions. When Chief Halderman entered the minor female's vehicle, she became extremely uncomfortable.

January 13, 2015 – Chief Halderman purposely pointed a hand gun at a co-worker's face, making the co-worker very uncomfortable and afraid for his safety.

May 21, 2016 – Chief Halderman was contacted by Boone County Joint Communications with a request to respond to a 911 emergency call in the City of Sturgeon. Chief Halderman responded by stating he "had been drinking and that he wasn't supposed to be on tonight." Chief Halderman asked the dispatcher at Boone County Joint Communications to "show him on scene out of uniform." Chief Halderman responded to the scene of the 911 call after admitting he had been drinking alcohol.

February 20, 2017 – Chief Halderman appeared at the Boone County Jail to interview 3 suspects regarding crimes that occurred in the City of Sturgeon. Chief Halderman behaved in an unprofessional manner by harassing and verbally abusing 3 prisoners, by yelling at them, swearing at them and threatening them with prison time. This agitated the prisoners and made the job of the staff at the Boone County Jail more difficult. 3 Boone County Sheriff's deputies made written reports describing the Chief's unprofessional behavior. 1 Boone County Sheriff's Deputy reported that he may have smelled intoxicants on Chief Halderman's breath at that time. Chief Halderman admitted that he had consumed alcohol just prior to leaving for the jail. Chief Halderman admitted that his behavior was due to the stress he experienced during events that had occurred in the week before this incident.

Following his termination, Halderman filed suit in the Circuit Court of Boone County on May 4, 2017. Halderman's petition asserted claims against the City; Mayor Gene Kelly; and the members of the City's Board of Aldermen (Tyler Patterson, Rhonda Dawson, Travis Sutton, and Danny Joiner). Halderman alleged that the defendants "conspired to remove [him] from office." Halderman contended that the City had unlawfully failed to hold a formal contested-case hearing prior to his discharge. Halderman's Petition also claimed that his termination was not for the reasons set forth in the Board's decision. Instead, he alleged that he was fired in retaliation for three incidents: his refusal to follow an instruction from Kelly and Sutton to run an unlawful criminal background check on a competing mayoral candidate; his report of allegations of domestic violence between another Sturgeon police officer and her husband (who were close friends of Patterson's); and his report of Patterson's removal of Halderman's personnel file from City Hall in violation of Missouri's Sunshine Law, § 610.023.2.

Halderman's Petition alleged six counts. Count I sought judicial review of his termination as a contested case under the Missouri Administrative Procedure Act ("MAPA"), § 536.010, et seq. ; in the alternative, Count II sought judicial review of Halderman's termination as a non-contested case; Count III alleged that all of the defendants had denied Halderman his rights under the Due Process Clause of the Missouri Constitution; Count IV alleged a claim for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy against the City; Count V alleged a wrongful discharge claim against the individual City officials; and Count VI sought damages from the City officials for tortious interference with Halderman's employment contract with the City.

The circuit court granted partial summary judgment to Halderman as to Counts I and III on February 15, 2019. The court found that the removal hearing required by § 106.273 was a "contested case," and that the City had failed to comply with the procedural requirements for contested cases specified in MAPA. The circuit court also found that the City's failure to conduct a formal hearing violated Halderman's due process rights. The court ordered the City to reinstate Halderman as police chief, and pay him back wages from the date of his termination. On March 11, 2019, the circuit court entered an amended judgment, certifying its summary judgment ruling as a partial final judgment under Rule 74.01(b).

The defendants appealed. Despite the circuit court's certification of the judgment for immediate appeal under Rule 74.01(b), this Court dismissed the appeal. Halderman v. City of Sturgeon , 592 S.W.3d 824 (Mo. App. W.D. 2020). We concluded that the circuit court had not entered judgment on a distinct "judicial unit" which could be appealed while Halderman's other claims remained pending in the circuit court. Id. at 829.

After reinstating Halderman, the City placed him on administrative leave with pay. The City then held a contested-case hearing before the Board of Aldermen to remove Halderman from office a second time. By the time of the second termination hearing, none of the Aldermen who had voted to terminate Halderman in 2017 remained on the Board. The newly constituted Board voted to terminate Halderman on April 30, 2019. The Board found cause for termination based on the two alcohol-related incidents which formed part of the basis for Halderman's 2017 termination (one occurring on May 21, 2016, and the other on February 20, 2017). Halderman did not seek judicial review of the City's 2019 termination decision.

On September 16, 2019, the defendants moved for summary judgment on Halderman's wrongful discharge and tortious interference claims. The circuit court granted partial summary judgment to the defendants on Halderman's wrongful discharge claims, but denied summary judgment on the tortious interference claim. While the court dismissed Halderman's common-law wrongful discharge claims, it granted him leave to file an amended petition to assert a wrongful discharge claim under § 105.055. Although § 105.055 had previously only authorized wrongful discharge claims against State agencies, the statute had been amended in 2018 to permit wrongful discharge claims against political subdivisions of the State. See S.B. 1007, 99th Gen. Assembly, 2d Reg. Session (2018).

Halderman filed his First Amended Petition on May 29, 2020, incorporating the original six counts, and adding a statutory wrongful discharge claim against the City.

A jury trial on Halderman's wrongful discharge and tortious interference claims began on July 26, 2021. Before Halderman rested, he voluntarily dismissed his claims against all defendants except the City and Patterson.

The jury returned verdicts for Halderman against the City for wrongful discharge, and against Patterson for tortious interference with contract. The jury awarded Halderman $300,000 in compensatory damages on each claim, and found Patterson liable for an additional $15,000 in punitive damages. The court subsequently awarded Halderman attorney's fees of $473,418.75, and costs of $6,511.35, against the City under § 105.055.7(4).

The City and Patterson appeal. On appeal, they have been jointly represented, and filed joint briefing.

Discussion

I.

The Appellants’ first Point challenges the circuit court's ruling that the City was required to hold a formal contested-case hearing before terminating Halderman. The City claims that the proceeding cannot be deemed a ...