Curia

The Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission), the Los Angeles County director of personnel and the department of county engineer facilities (hereinafter referred to as the Department) appeal a judgment granting Nancy Curia a writ of mandate reversing a decision of the Commission denying her petition for reinstatement after her employment was terminated pursuant to section 33 of the Los Angeles Administrative Code Ordinance No. 4099.

Nancy Curia has filed a cross-appeal on the ground that the action of the Department constituted a wrongful discharge without appropriate protection of her constitutional rights.

Facts

The trial court granted the petition for writ of mandate and ordered a de novo hearing following its review of the proceedings before the hearing officer for the Commission. The record discloses the following facts: Nancy Curia was hired by the Department on July 22, 1970, and in March 1979 she was a real property agent II. Her supervisor, Claus Marx, testified that Ms. Curia’s absence to keep a doctor’s appointment on March 1, 1979, was authorized. She did not return to work March 2. However, her mother called…