Appeal of Young

Summary

The New Hampshire Supreme Court held that an employee’s letter describing an intended transfer to another state department was not a voluntary resignation. Because the employee withdrew the intended transfer before its effective date, the Department of Agriculture’s treatment of the matter as a resignation constituted an involuntary separation. The court reversed because the department failed to follow required procedures for dismissing a classified employee.

Holdings

1. Young did not resign because his letter expressed an intent to transfer to another state department, not a voluntary intent to end his state employment.
2. Because Young did not resign, he was involuntarily separated from state employment, and the commissioner improperly terminated him without following the required dismissal procedures.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Young's letter announcing an intended transfer to another state department constituted a voluntary resignation.
2. Whether the commissioner improperly terminated Young by treating the attempted transfer as a resignation without following the administrative procedures required for an involuntary dismissal.

Disposition

reversed