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Dowdell v. Fitzgibbon

The Court reversed the superior court's reversal of the Fulton County Personnel Board's decision to suspend an employee rather than terminate him, finding that the superior court erred in basing its decision on certain county personnel regulations the employee allegedly violated when copies of those regulations were not properly before the court.

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In this discretionary appeal, Mark Dowdell appeals from the Superior Court of Fulton County’s reversal of a decision by the Fulton County Personnel Board the Board to suspend his employment with the Fulton County Board of Tax Assessors rather than terminate him. Dowdell argues on appeal that the superior court erred in 1 concluding that the Board had made an indirect finding as to his violation of the personnel regulation at issue, 2 holding that the Board lacked the authority to reduce a termination to a suspension, and 3 holding that the Board lacked discretion to reduce the severity of the remedy for the violation at issue. But because neither the record before us nor the record before the superior court contains properly proved personnel regulations, we are constrained to reverse without reaching the merits.

The record reflects that Dowdell was terminated from his employment with the Fulton County Board of Tax Assessors after a meeting with his immediate supervisor and with the deputy chief appraiser who supervises the entire residential staff, including Dowdell and his immediate supervisor. During the meeting, Dowdell was asked about his mishandling of files that were left in a hallway outside of his supervisor’s door. Dowdell became defensive and stood up over his supervisor, yelling at her. The deputy chief appraiser told Dowdell to sit down several times, but he only complied with this directive after the deputy chief appraiser threatened to call security.

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