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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 12/17/96 OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 94-CC-01232 COA

CHRISTOPHER EPPS, FRED CHILDS, ROBERT ARMSTRONG, BARRY PARKER AND DONALD RADFORD APPELLANTS v. MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS APPELLEE

THIS OPINION IS NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION AND MAY NOT BE CITED, PURSUANT TO M.R.A.P. 35-B

TRIAL JUDGE: HON. JAMES E. GRAVES, JR. COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: HINDS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANTS: P.J. TOWNSEND, JR. WILLIAM G. WILLARD, JR. RICHARD A. OAKES JAMES W. BURGOON, JR. ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: JOSEPH A. GOFF NATURE OF THE CASE: AWARD OF ATTORNEYS' FEES BY THE MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYEE APPEALS BOARD TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION: THE MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYEE APPEALS BOARD IS

WITHOUT AUTHORITY TO GRANT SUCH AN AWARD

BEFORE THOMAS, P.J., COLEMAN, AND SOUTHWICK, JJ. THOMAS, P.J., FOR THE COURT:

SUMMARY Larry Floyd, an inmate at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, Mississippi, escaped from custody on November 17, 1991. Appellants were security officers of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), who captured Floyd several miles south of the Penitentiary and returned him to custody. Floyd accused the Appellants of beating and physically abusing him, which resulted in the termination of the Appellants by the MDOC. The terminations having resulted from the same factual situation, the Mississippi Employee Appeals Board (EAB) consolidated the appeals of Christopher B. Epps, Fred Childs, Robert Armstrong, Barry Parker, Donald Radford, Terry Winters, and Roger Little. The EAB determined on October 26, 1992, that the MDOC violated the Appellants' due process rights and reinstated them to their jobs with the MDOC. Following the EAB's ruling, the reinstated employees moved the EAB for an award of attorneys' fees. After a hearing on the matter, the EAB determined that they had the authority to award attorneys' fees; however, they concluded that equity required the award of attorneys' fees to be only half of what the Appellants requested. On February 23, 1993, the MDOC appealed to the Circuit Court of Hinds County, Mississippi, on the sole issue of attorneys' fees, and the Appellants' cross-appealed the EAB's reduction of the amount of attorneys' fees awarded. The circuit court ruled on November 1, 1994, that there was no statutory authority for the EAB to award attorneys' fees. From that order the Appellants bring this appeal assigning one issue as error: I. WHETHER THE EMPLOYEE APPEALS BOARD HAS THE AUTHORITY TO ASSESS ATTORNEYS' FEES AGAINST A STATE AGENCY IN CASES WHERE THE EMPLOYEE APPEALS BOARD HAS RULED AN AGENCY HAS VIOLATED THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF AN EMPLOYEE? Finding no error, we affirm. ANALYSIS The Appellants argue that there is statutory authority for the EAB to award attorneys' fees. They argue that this authority is found in sections 1983 and 1988 and section 11-55-5(1) of the Mississippi Code, the Litigation Accountability Act of 1988. Section 1983 states in part: Every person who . . . under color of [law], . . . subjects . . . any citizen of the United

States . . . to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress . . . . 42 U.S.C.

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