Opinion ID: 1990428
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Challenge to Issuance of Right-to-Sue Letter.

Text: Generally, any challenge to the authority of the Commission to issue a release would need to be asserted before the Commission. The Commission is authorized by statute to issue a release or right-to-sue letter, and the performance of that duty constitutes agency action. See Iowa Code § 216.16(2); Genetzky v. Iowa State Univ., 480 N.W.2d 858, 861 (Iowa 1992) (an action is an agency action if it falls within statutory mandate and area of expertise). As with any other agency action, judicial review is the proper form of relief. See Black v. University of Iowa, 362 N.W.2d 459, 462 (Iowa 1985) (judicial review proceedings are fundamentally different from original actions commenced in the district court); Iowa Code ch. 17A. Yet, an action for discrimination is an original action when filed in district court. Thus, any challenge to the Commission's decision to issue the right-to-sue letter should have been raised before the Commission. Accordingly, the county waived its challenge to the right-to-sue letter.