Opinion ID: 2639895
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Mandamus as a remedy in the instant case

Text: The question remains whether the trial court erred in refusing to issue the writs of mandamus and in dismissing the petitions. A short review of mandamus is in order. Mandamus is a proceeding to compel some inferior court, tribunal, board, or some corporation or person to perform a specified duty, which duty results from the office, trust, or official station of the party to whom the order is directed, or from operation of law. K.S.A. 60-801. Mandamus is not available to require performance of an act that involves the exercise of discretion by the public official. State ex rel. Stephan v. Kansas Racing Comm'n, 246 Kan. 708, 716, 792 P.2d 971 (1990). Nor does it lie to enforce a right which is in substantial dispute. 246 Kan. at 716. It is available only for the purpose of compelling the performance of a clearly defined duty. Link, Inc., v. City of Hays, 268 Kan. 372, 375, 997 P.2d 697 (2000). The only acts of public officials that the courts can control by mandamus are those strictly ministerial, meaning the public officer or agent is required to perform based upon a given set of facts, in a prescribed manner, in obedience to the mandate of legal authority, and without regard to his own judgment or opinion about the propriety or impropriety of the act to be performed. [Citation omitted.] 246 Kan. at 717. The insurance carriers' claims for reimbursement clearly met the requirements of K.S.A. 44-534a(b), i.e., the benefits they paid to claimants were later totally disallowed by the ALJ. Under K.S.A. 44-534a(b), at best the Director only has discretion in determining the amount of compensation paid by the employer or insurance carrier which is to be reimbursed. . . . Nowhere does the Workers Compensation Act provide that the Director has the discretion to reverse the findings and conclusions of an ALJ and thereby totally disallow the reimbursement claims as a matter of law. And if such power over an ALJ were to exist, it would logically be the Board's, not the Director's. See Riedmiller v. Harness, 29 Kan. App. 2d 941, 44-45, 34 P.3d 474 (2001); K.S.A. 44-551(b)(1) (All final orders, awards, modifications of awards, or preliminary awards under K.S.A. 44-534a and amendments thereto made by an administrative law judge shall be subject to review by the board. . . .); K.S.A. 44-555c(a) (The board shall have exclusive jurisdiction to review all decisions, findings, orders and awards of compensation of administrative law judges under the workers compensation act. [Emphasis added.]). Since the ALJs in both matters found that compensation should be totally disallowed, Greathouse's statutory duty to certify these claims for reimbursement is clear. As a result, under the rationale of Liberal-NEA v. Board of Education, 211 Kan. 219, 505 P.2d 651 (1973), the trial court should have issued the writs of mandamus. There, we concluded that the plaintiff was the statutory exclusive representative of the teachers and was entitled to be recognized as such. Accordingly, the defendant board of education had a statutory duty to enter into professional negotiations with the plaintiff under K.S.A. 72-5423. We held: In view of the conclusion which we have reached in this case that the defendant board of education had a statutory duty to enter into negotiations with the plaintiff Liberal-NEA, it follows that a writ of mandamus should have been granted by the trial court. (K.S.A. 60-801; Woelk v. Consolidated School District, 133 Kan. 346, 299 Pac. 648.) (Emphasis added.) This court then reversed and remanded with directions to the trial court to issue an order of mandamus requiring the defendant board of education to engage in collective negotiations with the plaintiff. 211 Kan. at 233. Similarly, in the instant case, the decision of the trial court is reversed and the case is remanded for issuance of writs of mandamus ordering the Director to carry out her statutory duties required by K.S.A. 44-534a(b), i.e., to determine the amount of compensation paid by the insurance carriers to claimants and to certify to the Commissioner of Insurance the amount so determined for their reimbursement.