Appeal of Batchelder

The plaintiff appealed to this court pursuant to RSA 541:6, after the personnel commission denied his motion for a rehearing of its April 17, 1981, decision upholding the plaintiff’s suspension from his job at the New Hampshire State Prison. We find that the suspension of the plaintiff was based on an arbitrary and unreasonable procedure, and, therefore, we reverse the commission’s decision.

The facts leading up to the plaintiff’s suspension are as follows. The plaintiff, Dennis Batchelder, is a captain at the New Hampshire State Prison. On January 23, 1981, the plaintiff arrived late for a…