Former assistant fire chief for parish fire protection district filed petition for judicial review of decision of the district’s civil service board which affirmed his termination.
The District Court reversed and remanded. District sought supervisory review. The Court of Appeal denied writ. District filed application for supervisory writ, and certiorari was granted.
The Supreme Court held that district court exceeded its statutory authority in reversing civil service board’s decision.
District court exceeded its authority, under statute governing court’s review of decision of civil service board, in reversing decision of parish fire protection district’s civil service board, which had upheld termination of assistant fire chief based on findings that assistant chief had made untruthful statements under oath, had improperly used his position to intimidate another officer, and had conducted factory reset of his district-issued cellphone, thereby destroying evidence; district court found sufficient evidence supported board’s good faith in making two of the findings, but still remanded for further proceedings, and although district court did not impose different sanction in place of board’s sanction, clear implication of court’s judgment was that termination was excessive.