Opinion ID: 848615
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Uniformity and Consistency

Text: The goal of consistent and uniform administrative decision-making is similarly thwarted where multiple forums may decide the same factual question. As we stated in Travelers, supra at 199, 631 N.W.2d 733: [U]niformity and consistency in the regulation of business entrusted to a particular agency are secured, and the limited functions of review by the judiciary are more rationally exercised, by preliminary resort for ascertaining and interpreting the circumstances underlying legal issues to agencies that are better equipped than courts by specialization, by insight gained through experience, and by more flexible procedure. [Citation omitted.] Resort to the WCB in the first instance ensures that employment status issues will be resolved in a consistent manner. Moreover, the shared jurisdiction approach established by Sewell suffers from an unconvincing rationale and lack of clarity in application. As Justice Levin aptly opined, there is little reason to assume that employment status determinations are any more fundamental than other questions involved in determining whether a plaintiff's claim sounds in worker's compensation or tort. Sewell, supra at 70, 347 N.W.2d 447 (Levin, J., concurring). Thus, Sewell 's more fundamental rationale for concurrent jurisdiction appears both unprincipled and groundless.