Former city employee actions can be considered whistleblowing, appeals court rules
A former City of Columbia employee who sued the city over allegations it violated Missouri's whistleblower statute has won her appeal.
The original case was dismissed in favor of the city, but the Western District Court of Appeals overturned that ruling Tuesday sending the case back to Boone County.
Colleen Spurlock was a city management fellow first hired in July 2020. Her partner, Kyle Rieman, who now is Boone County auditor, also accused the city of retaliation in relation to the attendance of a city council meeting in June 2021. He filed a similar wrongful dismissal suit in June 2022, which also was dismissed in favor of the city in October. Rieman has not yet filed an appeal based on available online court filings.
Spurlock filed her lawsuit the day prior to the retirement of former Columbia City Manager John Glascock in January 2022. A hearing was held by June, but the case was dismissed, hence Spurlock's appeal. The suit was directed at the city and Glascock and issues raised in her complaint directly name Glascock, specifically an abuse of authority.
Spurlock had one point in her appeal that Judge J. Hasbrouck Jacobs was wrong to dismiss her case. The appeals court agreed and so the case will be tried again to more align with the arguments raised in the appeal.
The city argued that language in the state's whistleblower statute is unconstitutionally vague in citing the need for dismissal, but cities do not have the standing to bring such an argument in the first place, wrote Western District Judge Edward R. Ardini.
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"Political subdivisions are not 'persons' within the protection of the due process clause of the United States Constitution," he wrote. "As such, cities cannot bring a vagueness challenge to statutes."
So, the Western District had to determine if Spurlock adequately stated a claim under the state's whistleblower statute.
"Spurlock alleged in her petition that the city violated the whistleblower statute by suspending and constructively discharging her after she informed the human resources director and city manager that city manager had denied her partner the ability to travel with her and other employees to a conference, citing an allegedly non-existent policy, which Spurlock reasonably believed constituted an abuse of authority by city manager," Ardini wrote.
Spurlock directly brought concerns to Glascock. Even talking to the alleged "wrongdoer" falls within the scope of the whistleblower statute as a disclosure, Ardini wrote. The consultation with Human Resources on staff policies also counted as a disclosure under the whistleblower statute, he added.
The city still has a chance to argue Glascock did not abuse authority, Ardini wrote, but that is part of a different court process than the point raised in the appeal.
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"The City’s argument reflects a presumption that proof of the existence of an ordinance authorizing city manager toapprove travel requests will, alone, defeat Spurlock’s action. It will not," Ardini wrote, emphasis as written. "The critical question is not whether city manager possessed such authority but instead, whether such authority was abused.
"In this appeal, however, we need only determine whether Spurlock sufficiently pleaded facts that she 'reasonably believed' that the city manager had engaged in an 'abuse of authority.'"
Finally, the appeals court had to determine if Spurlock was subject to disciplinary action. Since the reasonable belief argument passed muster, the ultimatum Spurlock received from Glascock of requesting a resignation from Spurlock or she would be fired "was tantamount to a constructive discharge and thereby synonymous with a 'dismissal,'" Ardini wrote.
"Spurlock sufficiently alleged that she was subjected to a disciplinary action as that term is defined under (the whistleblower statute)," he wrote.
Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Former city employee wins wrongful dismissal appeal against city
