Anderson v. City of St. Paul

Kelly, Justice

(concurring specially).

Under the civil service rules under scrutiny in this case, unskilled workers were hired without taking any examination and after 2 years’ work became classified and obtained promotional rights. However, appellants, skilled as truckdrivers who were hired as temporary or emergency employees, were required to take a practical examination and, after working for up to 10 years, have acquired no rights. Thus, any employee classified as unskilled after 2 years’ work, if he passes the civil service test, will be given priority over a truckdriver who has been working for the city for 10 years.

The rationale of rules that bring about such an unfair result escapes me. Certainly, the rights of truckdrivers who have worked as skilled workers for over 2 years after taking a practical examination should take precedence over the rights of unskilled workers who took no examination and merely worked as unskilled personnel. The mere fact that plaintiffs were characterized as temporary or emergency employees should have no bearing on the outcome of this case because for all practical purposes they were in fact full-time employees.