Brightman v. CIVIL SERV. COM'N OF CITY OF DES MOINES

McCORMICK, Justice.

In 1966 the 33 plaintiffs in this case were detectives under civil service in the Des Moines police department. Des Moines ordinance 7427, effective December 26, 1966, gave them a five percent pay raise. They appealed to the civil service commission alleging the ordinance constituted an illegal demotion (under Code § 365.18) and denial of equal protection (under U.S. Const, amend. 14, § 1, and Iowa Const., Art. I, § 6) because it gave all other members of the police department ten percent raises and failed to equalize plaintiffs’ pay with that of police sergeants.

The…