Opinion ID: 1666560
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The Jurisdiction of District Courts over Section 10(A)(3) Claims

Text: We must address the jurisdiction of the district courts over Section 10(A)(3) claims because the court of appeal erroneously stated that Section 8(B) could not provide the exclusive bases for discrimination claims within the Commission's jurisdiction as then an individual would have no recourse to the Commission for discrimination proscribed by Section 10(A)(3). Louisiana Dept. of Agriculture and Forestry v. Sumrall , 97-0288 p. 6, 712 So.2d at 680. Further, since the Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over classified employer/employee disputes that are employment related, the court reasoned that the district courts would be precluded from entertaining the Article 10 discrimination claims, and the employee would have no recourse. Id. (emphasis added). Article X, Section 10(A)(3), prohibits the Commission or any state agency, department, or political subdivision from creating a rule, regulation or practice which favors or discriminates against an applicant or employee on the basis of his membership or nonmembership in any private organization. That prohibition, which is found within Section 10, pertaining to the rulemaking or quasi-legislative power of the Commission, provides in pertinent part: (3) Layoffs; Preference Employees.... No rule, regulation, or practice of the commission, of any agency or department, or of any official of the state or any political subdivision shall favor or discriminate against any applicant or employee because of his membership or non-membership in any private organization; ... This subsection is purely prohibitory, in that it includes no provisions for asserting a claim under its restrictions. Sections 8 and 12 are not referenced therein nor is there any indication that claims made under this provision were intended to be included in the Commission's jurisdiction. Additionally, had the delegates intended this provision to broaden the list of discrimination claims appealable to the Commission, they would have included the prohibition in Section 8, rather than in Section 10. In the constitutional debates of 1973, Delegate Jenkens, who authored the provision, offered the language as an amendment to Section 8 so that it would be included in the list of prohibited discrimination and be appealable to the Commission. His recommendation however was rejected by a 47-53 vote. Records of the Constitutional Convention of 1973: Convention Transcripts, Volume IX, p. 2706 (December 12, 1973). The delegates voted 57-50 to place this prohibition instead within Section 10. Id. at p. 2719. Considering the substance of the provision and its placement, it is obvious that this provision serves as a limit on the Commission's quasi-legislative powers. Because the provision targets the Commission and specifically prohibits it from discriminating, by rule or practice, on the basis of membership or nonmembership in a private organization, it seems logical that the delegates would not give jurisdiction over such claims to the potential defendant, the Commission. Rather, the constitution places within the Commission's quasi-judicial power two categories of claims: (1) discrimination claims provided for in Section 8(B); and (2) removal or disciplinary claims provided for in Sections 12(A) and 8(A). We have already held the rules enacted by the Commission purporting to expand its appellate jurisdiction unconstitutional, and that includes the rule authorizing an appeal on claims of discrimination due to membership or nonmembership in a private organization. Thus, the Commission does not have the power, either under the constitutional provisions or under their own rules, to entertain the pure 10(A)(3) claim, (unless the plaintiff is asserting that the discrimination was the basis for his removal or discipline under Section 12). Hence, we must look elsewhere for the Article X, Section 10(A)(3) plaintiff's forum. As we stated above, district courts have jurisdiction over all civil claims not otherwise provided for in the constitution. Article X, Section 10(A)(3) claims are not included by the constitution in the Commission's jurisdiction. Thus, Article V, Section 16(A), providing that district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil and criminal matters, makes it clear that this plaintiff will bring his claim of discrimination based upon membership or non-membership in a private organization to the district court. In sum, any classified employee asserting a discrimination claim based upon political or religious beliefs, race or sex, may bring their case to the Commission. Any individual asserting a cause of action based upon a form of discrimination not within the scope of the Commission's quasi-judicial power expressed in Article X, Sections 8 and 12, may not bring his claim to the Commission but has recourse in the district courts. Other laws, state statutes, and provisions of the constitution create assertable individual rights to be free from many forms of discrimination. Plaintiffs seeking protection under any of these laws may take refuge in the district courts of this state.