Opinion ID: 2394524
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: The Civil Service Board's Refusal To Consider 61 Of The 62 Appeals

Text: Lastly, Petitioners complain that the Civil Service Board erred when it refused to consider sixty-one of the appeals because Petitioners did not file individual appeals with the Civil Service Board. At the October 8, 2003 hearing, the City objected to the collective appeal made by Petitioners, arguing that it was an improper joinder pursuant to [the] Federal rules because of the specific fact[-]related questions (e.g., their rank and years of active service) relating to each Petitioner. The Civil Service Board agreed with the City, stating: Having been duly informed by counsel, having studied the preliminary matters that were submitted, the procedural decision of this Board will be that it should have as it guide the principles laid down by Federal [R]ules of [C]ivil [P]rocedure Rule 23 and that it should not approve a class action in essence where it's fact specific to each individual claim and the court has not instructed this Board with respect to any decision it made, if any, concerning whether or not it was appropriately filed as a class action in the Circuit Court. What the court has done is simply to say that the lead plaintiff, Mr. Bowen, has not exhausted his administrative remedies and without prejudice to what the court may say respecting a class action, this Board will decide today on a hearing involving Mr. Bowen only on the issue of whether or not Mr. Bowen has an appropriate claim in view of the Board's interpretation of the codes sections of the City of Annapolis and that will be the procedural decision. Petitioners argue that this decision is in error because the certification of a class is beyond the board's jurisdiction. Rather than using Federal Rule 23 for its analysis, Petitioners utilize the state analog  Maryland Rule 2-231 [10]  to argue that the certification of a class for litigation purposes lies solely with the judiciary, rather than an administrative agency. In addition, Petitioners argue that fairness and justice should allow a collective appeal to the Civil Service Board because a single issue, the interpretation of Code 3.36.150A1[,] affect[s] all Retirees equally. Petitioners explain: [T]he City [] denied each of the 62 grievances on exactly the same grounds, . . . notwithstanding their different rank or years of service at retirement.
The City does not provide this Court with a substantive argument addressing Petitioners' contention that the Civil Service Board erred in failing to consider sixty-one of the sixty-two claims; rather, the City asserts that this issue has not been preserved for our review because it was not properly raised in the Court of Special Appeals. Specifically, the City contends that while Petitioners listed this issue in their brief before the Court of Special Appeals, Petitioners did not offer any argument in support of it. The City argues that Petitioners' failure to address the issue with argument violates Maryland Rule 8-504(a)(5) which requires that [a] brief shall . . . include . . . [a]rgument in support of the party's position. The City asserts that this Court need not consider [this issue] further. The City's argument is without merit. In the most basic form, the City contends that because Petitioners did not present the Court of Special Appeals with sufficient argument of this issue, they may not now raise the issue before this Court. This argument ignores a basic rule of appellate jurisprudence: A party may not appeal a judgment wholly in its favor. Paolino v. McCormick Co., 314 Md. 575, 579, 552 A.2d 868, 870 (1989). Petitioners received a favorable judgment from the Circuit Court and thus had no duty to raise this issue or any other issue before the intermediate appellate court. Rather, the duty to raise issues for appellate review belongs squarely with the aggrieved party: in this case, the City. See Paolino, 314 Md. at 579, 552 A.2d at 870, and the cases cited therein. The City appealed the judgment of the Circuit Court to the Court of Special Appeals; therefore, Petitioners had no duty to argue issues not presented by the City before the Court of Special Appeals. We hold that this issue is properly preserved for our review as it was raised below in the administrative proceeding, in the Circuit Court, and in the Petitioners' petition for wit of certiorari, which we granted. See Maryland Rule 8-131(a) and (b). [11]
We hold that the Civil Service Board's decision to dismiss sixty-one of the sixty-two administrative appeals was unreasonable. The Board relied on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 to dismiss the appeals, explaining that the Circuit Court, in its remand instructions, did not provide the Civil Service Board with any guidance in the handling of this issue. Such reliance on the Federal Rules was erroneous. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure govern the procedure of civil suits in United States district courts. See Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 1 (These rules govern the procedure in the United States district courts in all suits of a civil nature whether cognizable as cases at law or in equity or in admiralty, with the exceptions stated in Rule 81. They shall be construed and administered to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.). These rules, including Federal Rule 23, bind neither state courts nor state or local administrative agencies. The Civil Service Board is an administrative board of the City of Annapolis and is not a federal district court; therefore, Federal Rule 23, which governs a federal district court's treatment of class actions, is not applicable in proceedings before that Board. Furthermore, the stated procedure and rules governing matters before the Civil Service Board  codified primarily at Section 3.16.150  do not prohibit the collective appeal of a common issue of law or fact. Even if such a rule existed, these provisions are inapplicable in appeals brought before the Civil Service Board by retired employees because Section 3.16.150 is applicable only to permanent status employees, as explained above. In addition, Section 3.36.170A, the only section which arguably governs disputes over retirement pension benefits, contains no prohibitions against collective appeals. [12] Without rules or regulations prohibiting collective appeals of common issues of law or fact and without devising alternative means to review the sixty-one others claims in a timely fashion, we hold the Civil Service Board's failure to consider the sixty-one other claims was an unreasonable action. JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED IN PART. CASE REMANDED TO THAT COURT WITH DIRECTIONS TO REMAND THE CASE TO THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY TO ENTER AN APPROPRIATE DECLARATORY JUDGMENT IN CONFORMANCE WITH THIS OPINION. THE DECLARATORY JUDGMENT SHALL BE A SEPARATE DOCUMENT WHICH DECLARES THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES AND MAY INCLUDE SUCH ANCILLARY RELIEF AS NECESSARY. COSTS IN THIS COURT AND THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS TO BE PAID ONE QUARTER BY PETITIONERS AND THREE QUARTERS BY RESPONDENT.