Mississippi Department of Corrections v. Pennington

MAXWELL, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. The Employee Appeals Board (EAB) cannot alter an agency’s employee-discipline decision when the agency properly followed its regulations. But the EAB can reinstate a dismissed employee who has shown the acts leading to his termination did not occur. The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) dismissed its employee, Paul Pennington Jr., claiming he had used inmates to construct a deer stand on the grounds of the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman) and then lied about it to investigators. Pennington appealed to the EAB, which reinstated him, finding he…