Cutler v. State Civil Service commission (Office of Administration)

In Cutler v. State Civil Service commission (Office of Administration), 924 A.2d 706, 711-712 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2007), the issue was whether "Management Directive 580.21(2)(d), which limited the veterans' preference to a one-time use by employees in the classified service, expressed a correct interpretation of Chapter 71 of the Military Affairs Code entitled "Veterans' Preference 51 Pa. C.S. 7101-7109." 924 A.2d at 710. Specifically, Management Directive 580.21(2)(d) provided that: "Current classified service employees assigned regular or probationary status...are not eligible for the veterans' preference in 2.a." The State Civil Service Commission had dismissed Cutler's appeal, which he contended was in error because the Management Directive was not consistent with the Military Affairs Code. The Court stated that what mattered was whether the content of the Management Directive correctly implemented the Military Code and held that it was not binding on this Court. The Court then determined that it was not an administrative regulation adopted by an agency pursuant to an express grant of legislative rule-making authority, but instead was a directive designed to implement the veterans' preference law with regard to Commonwealth employees. It was only enforceable if it was consistent with a statute and if it tracked Chapter 71 of the Military Affairs Code. The Court determined that Management Directive 580.21(2)(d) did not track the plain language of Chapter 71 of the Military Affairs Code and was unenforceable because Section 7103(a) of the Military Affairs Code mandated that a veteran receive 10 additional points on every civil service exam whenever he successfully passed a civil service appointment or promotional exam for a public position with the Commonwealth. "The Supreme Court has never held that a veteran's preference is limited to a single use in a career in public employment. To the contrary, as noted by our Supreme Court, 'section 7104(b) of the Military Affairs code clearly intends for the mandatory preference to apply to all appointments, entry-level or otherwise, and that the statute does not thereby operate in an unconstitutional manner." Id., 924 A.2d at 715-716.