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li~IEMORANDUM <br />.I.u; Janice C. Guy Date: February 23, 1990 <br />C e r o t e Counci <br />_ Vim; Edward J. Cooper <br />City Attorney <br />Subject: CHARTER 6 701' ~ • - OFFICERS APPOINTED BY CITY COUNCIL <br />You have requested an opinion from this office regarding <br />the last sentence of Charter ~ 701, which reads: <br />"Subject to the civil service <br />provisions of this Charter, the City <br />Council shall appoint the Clerk of <br />the Council who shall serve at its <br />pleasure." <br />The Civil Service provisions of the Charter are contained <br />in Article X, commencing with Section 1000. <br />Section 1002 of the Charter states that: "The civil <br />service system of the City shall cover all employees of the <br />City not excepted by this section." Subsection (a)(4) of <br />Section 1002 excepts the Clerk of the Council from the civil <br />service system. However, subsection (c) of Section 1002 provides <br />that if the Clerk of the Council were holding a position in the <br />civil service and thereafter appointed to the excepted service, <br />there is a right of reversion to the former position if removed <br />from the excepted position. This subsection would not apply to <br />the present incumbent who was not appointed from a civil service <br />position. (See also S.A.M.C. ~ 9-115.) <br />An "at pleasure" employee is also called an "at will" <br />employee. An at-will employee does not obtain any vested <br />property rights in employment, thus does not have procedural <br />due process rights of a pre-removal opportunity to be heard and <br />post-removal evidentiary hearings. <br />However, at-will employees do have constitutional protect- <br />ion from being terminated for reasons of misconduct without the <br />opportunity for a "name clearing" hearing. This does not mean <br />the employee cannot be terminated without cause, but simply <br />means that if there is termination for cause that creates a <br />"stigma," the employee is entitled to a hearing on that issue <br />because the stigma affects future employability. <br />Furthermore, at-will employees cannot be discharged for <br />reasons contrary to public policy. They do retain First <br />Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution, subject to reas- <br />onable regulation, regarding freedom of speech and association. <br />Other protection is provided by law, such as employment dis- <br />crimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the <br />California Fair Employment and Housing Act; retaliatory dis- <br />missal for complaints relating to safety issues; issues relating <br />