Minnesota Veterans Preference Act: Protection From Removal

This is the part of Minnesota veterans law with no real counterpart in the other jurisdictions in this catalog. The hiring preference is ordinary. The job protection is not. Section 197.46 says that after any initial hiring probationary period expires, no person holding a position in the state civil service or by appointment or employment in any county, home rule charter or statutory city, town, school district or other political subdivision, who is a veteran separated from military service under honorable conditions, shall be removed from the position except for incompetency or misconduct shown after a hearing, upon due notice, upon stated charges, in writing. Any person whose rights are prejudiced is entitled to a writ of mandamus. The procedure has teeth at every step. The employer must notify the veteran in writing of the intent to discharge and of the right to request a hearing within 30 days of receiving the notice. Failure to request within 30 days waives the hearing and waives all other available legal remedies for reinstatement. That is the single most dangerous deadline for a Minnesota public employee who is a veteran, and it runs from receipt. The veteran chooses the forum. Where the governmental subdivision has a civil service board or commission or merit system authority, the veteran may elect to be heard there or before an arbitrator. Where none exists, an arbitrator hears it. The arbitrator is struck from a list of seven supplied by the Bureau of Mediation Services, the employer strikes first, and the veteran has 48 hours to respond to each strike. The written hearing request must state the election, and if the veteran does not, the employer may choose. The employer pays. The governmental subdivision bears all costs associated with the hearing, excluding the veteran's own attorney fees. If the veteran prevails and the hearing reverses the level of the alleged incompetency or misconduct requiring discharge, the subdivision must pay the veteran's reasonable attorney fees. Either side may appeal to district court by serving written notice of appeal stating the grounds within 15 days after notice of the decision, and filing it with proof of service within ten days after service. A willful violation by an officer, official or employee is a misdemeanour. The excluded positions are narrow and named: private secretary, superintendent of schools, one chief deputy of any elected official or head of a department, any person holding a strictly confidential relation to the appointing officer, and the position of teacher. The burden of establishing that a position is within an exclusion is on the appointing officer. The election trap. Section 197.455, subdivision 1, paragraph (b) extends sections 197.46 to 197.481 to a veteran who is an incumbent in a classified state civil service appointment and has completed probation. In a dismissal, that veteran has an irrevocable choice between the Veterans Preference Act procedure and the procedure in the applicable collective bargaining agreement, but not both. Choosing the Act means the matter is not a grievance under the contract and the union grievance route is closed. Paragraph (c) gives local government employees the same rights and the same election. Section 197.481 is the enforcement machinery and it belongs to the commissioner of veterans affairs, not to a court. A veteran denied rights under sections 43A.11, 197.46, 197.48 or 197.455 by the state or any political subdivision may petition the commissioner for an order directing relief. The petition needs a notarised signature, the names of affected agencies and persons, a concise statement of the facts and of how rights were denied, the relief requested, and a copy of the DD214. The commissioner has free access to the relevant records of all parties, may issue subpoenas and administer oaths, and may ask a district court to compel obedience or punish disobedience as contempt. A hearing must be scheduled within 120 days. The affected political subdivision must bear all costs the commissioner incurs. If the veteran wins and the other side appeals, the commissioner becomes a party and, with the attorney general, represents the veteran. Where a party refuses to comply with a final decision, the commissioner may sue in Ramsey County District Court and have judgment entered on the order. Section 197.48 protects all of this from quiet repeal: no later act is to be read as inconsistent with sections 197.455 and 197.46 unless it says so expressly, and a later city charter provision inconsistent with them is void to the extent of the inconsistency.