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Van v. Mobile County Personnel Board
Citations: 705 So. 2d 465; 1997 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 839; 1997 WL 641340Docket: 2960984
Court: Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama; October 17, 1997; Alabama; State Appellate Court
John Van, Jr. and Joe Reiser, Jr. appealed their terminations from the City of Mobile to the Mobile County Personnel Board, which upheld their dismissals in a decision dated November 21, 1996. The employees notified the Board of their intent to appeal to the circuit court on November 27, 1996, which was deemed untimely under the relevant statute requiring notice of appeal to be filed within five days of the Board's order. The trial court granted the Board's and City's motion to dismiss due to lack of jurisdiction based on the untimely appeal. The court emphasized that the right to appeal is not inherent but statutory, meaning it must adhere to prescribed timelines. The employees argued that Rule 6 of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, which allows for time computation adjustments, should apply; however, the court clarified that Rule 81(b) excludes such rules from administrative proceedings, thus affirming the strict five-day requirement. Additionally, the employees claimed the statute was invalid for lack of notice, but the court noted that they failed to notify the attorney general as mandated by Alabama law, which further invalidated their appeal. Consequently, the trial court's judgment was affirmed, confirming the dismissal of the appeal due to procedural noncompliance.