Alan F. HAEUSER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF LAW, GOVERNMENT OF GUAM; Civil Service Commission of Guam, Defendants-Appellees

Alan Haeuser appeals from an order of the district court, appellate division, affirming the superior court’s denial of his petition for writ of mandate. Haeuser was terminated from his position as an assistant attorney general in the Guam Department of Law after fourteen months employment. Pursuant to Public Law 19-52, 4 Guam Code Ann. § 6208.1 (“section 6208.1”), assistant attorneys general are placed in the “unclassified” service, have a two-year probation period, and cannot appeal an adverse employment action to the Civil Service Commission. By contrast, the majority of Guam government employees are “classified” and therefore have only a six-month probation period and can appeal their terminations to the Civil Service Commission. Haeuser contends that section 6208.1’s exemption of assistant attorneys general from the classified service violates the Organic Act, 48 U.S.C. § 1422e(a), which directs the government of Guam to establish a merit system and, as far as practicable, to make employment decisions in accordance with such system.

We agree. Because the record reflects no reasonable basis for the legislature to have determined that it is impracticable to include assistant…