Roe

Does a state employee’s resignation following his termination without due process cut off his remedies for the procedurally improper termination? If not, to what backpay is the employee entitled due to the procedurally improper termination? Is the employee entitled to reinstatement, or must the matter be remanded to the State Personnel Board (Personnel Board or Board) for a determination of the merits of the employer’s charges of misconduct?

In this case, we conclude that the Personnel Board erred in determining that Deputy Attorney General Robert Roe, who was terminated without due process, resigned effective September 24, 1992, and in limiting Roe’s back-pay award accordingly. Roe is entitled to backpay through May 5, 1999, the date of the Personnel Board’s decision after hearings on the merits of the Department of Justice’s charges against Roe. In an unpublished portion of this decision we conclude that this matter must be remanded to the Personnel Board to determine whether there was good cause to terminate Roe based on the evidence already heard.

Factual and Procedural Background

On August 25, 1992, the Department of Justice mailed Robert Roe a notice of adverse…