Opinion ID: 2582098
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Back Pay as an Equitable Claim

Text: ¶ 55 Although the deputies do not have a private statutory right of action for back pay to remedy past pay inequity in violation of the CPMA, the question remains whether they may, as they contend, claim back pay as compensation for past pay inequity in violation of a state civil service statute under this court's equitable jurisdiction. This is a novel question in Utah law, and also, it appears, in most other jurisdictions. If the deputies were employees in the private sector, any claim for back pay would necessarily be based on contract, wrongful termination, or unlawful discrimination, none of which is claimed here. Moreover, they are public employees, and the CPMA and the Merit Act require county administrators to create pay plans that ensure pay equity. ¶ 56 Generally, equitable jurisdiction is limited to cases in which either the remedy sought is an equitable remedy (injunction, mandamus, specific performance, contract reformation, job hiring or reinstatement), or because the plaintiff has no other remedy at law and the moral substance of the claim is so compelling that it requires a judicial remedy. Dan B. Dobbs, Law of Remedies, (2d ed. 1993); 27A Am.Jur.2d Equity §§ 39-45 (2000). Also, a suit in equity may be proper to enforce compliance with a statutory obligation. Id. § 51 (citing Reebok Int'l v. Marnatech Enters., 970 F.2d 552 (9th Cir.1992) (holding that the district court properly exercised equitable jurisdiction to grant an injunction and freeze assets to enforce the Lanham Act)). An equitable remedy may also be proper if fraud, duress, unconscionable hardship, or pecuniary results shocking to the conscience are involved. Marchant v. Nat'l Reserve Co., 103 Utah 530, 137 P.2d 331 (1943); see also 27A Am.Jur.2d Equity §§ 48, 49 (2003). However, the general rule is that equitable jurisdiction is precluded if the plaintiff has an adequate remedy at law and will not suffer substantial irreparable injury. Id. §§ 30, 45. Equitable jurisdiction is not justifiable simply because a party's remedy at law failed. Id. § 48. ¶ 57 This court has traditionally. . . limited the application of equity to cases of fraud, misrepresentation, duress, undue influence, mistake, and waiver. Utah Coal & Lumber Rest., Inc. v. Outdoor Endeavors Unlimited, 2001 UT 100, ¶ 13, 40 P.3d 581 (citations omitted). The deputies contend that the county represented to them that the Diamant arbitration would apply to them, but the record evidence they cite is extremely limited and certainly insufficient to support fraud. [7] The CPMA provides the deputies with a remedy at law: a grievance process with judicial review. The deputies have not argued that their injury is substantial and irreparable, that it is unconscionable, or that duress is involved. Moreover, as the county concedes, employees who are being paid inequitably normally have a remedy in an equitable cause of action seeking to compel a county to comply with the pay equity provision. See, e.g., Green v. Turner, 2000 UT 54, 4 P.3d 789; Glendale City Employees' Ass'n, Inc. v. City of Glendale, 15 Cal.3d 328, 124 Cal.Rptr. 513, 540 P.2d 609 (1975). Here, however, the pay plan was changed before these deputies brought suit, and they are seeking back pay to compensate for past pay inequity. Back pay is ordinarily considered a legal remedy comparable to money damages, rather than an equitable remedy. Hubbard v. EPA, 982 F.2d 531, 533 (D.C.Cir. 1992) (en banc) (holding that the Administrative Procedures Act did not waive sovereign immunity for a claim of money damages as compensation for a failure to hire that violated the plaintiff's civil rights); see also Colleen P. Murphy, Misclassifying Monetary Restitution 55 SMU L.Rev. 1577, 1628-35 (2002). [8] ¶ 58 The deputies argue that back pay is equitable relief. However, all the employment law cases they cite are based upon statutory violations of Title VII. These cases are inapposite for two reasons. First, Title VII explicitly provides back pay as a remedy, whereas Utah's statutes do not. Compare 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(g) (2000). Second, the violations of Title VII that justify the back pay remedy are limited to acts of racial or other discrimination, reflecting a public policy goal to end discrimination and make its victims whole. Such considerations do not exist here. For these reasons, we decline to treat the deputies' claim for pay equity as an equitable claim. Because we hold that the deputies have no breach of contract claim and that they have neither a private statutory right of action under the CPMA or the Merit Act, nor an equitable claim for back pay, we do not reach the issues of governmental immunity, notice, the county's compliance with the pay provision, the statute of limitations, or attorney's fees. [9]