Opinion ID: 1561088
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Substantive sufficiency of the report

Text: The appellee Association's second objection brings up the propriety of the report in the light of 26 M.R.S.A., § 970. [3] The claim is that the Justice below was correct, both, in his refusal to grant summary judgment in favor of the Board for illegality of the agency shop provision of the agreement, and, in his denial of the Board's request for a stay of the arbitration proceeding, all, it is said, pursuant to the doctrine of primary jurisdiction. We did say in State ex rel. Brennan v. R. D. Realty Corporation, 1975, Me., 349 A.2d 201, at 207, that [a]s a matter of judicial policy we will generally not decide an issue concerning which an administrative agency has decision capacity until after the agency has considered the issue. (Emphasis in original) In R. D. Realty, the issue at hand involved a mixed question of law and fact. As pointed out in that case the controlling consideration in support of the doctrine of deference of courts to administrative agencies lies in the fact that the agency has developed an expertise in resolving the special problems with which it is, by law, required to become concerned, and the [m]erest prudence suggests that the courts ought to have the benefit of the . . . [Agency's] prior expert evaluation of controverted facts, before it intervenes in a controversy over which the . . . [Agency] has jurisdiction. (Underscoring provided). There are exceptions to the doctrine of primary jurisdiction excusing the non-exhaustion of administrative remedies, and one of the exceptions is, where the questions involved are questions of law only which the courts must ultimately decide. The issue of the legality of the agency shop agreement in the instant case is one solely of law, wherein the special expertise of the administrative agency would be of no significant benefit. See Stanton v. Trustees of St. Joseph's College, 1967, Me., 233 A.2d 718, 724. Also, where the administrative agency is not empowered to grant the relief sought and it would be futile to complete the administrative appeal process, such are special circumstances dispensing with the exhaustion of the administrative remedy prior to turning to the courts for relief. The claimed illegality of the agency shop provision of the agreement qualifies as a special situation where original recourse to the courts should be used rather than proceeding at the administrative level. See Maine State Employees Ass'n v. Williams, 1977, Me., 373 A.2d 258, 261, where we said: The issue of whether 13¢ per mile is a fair reimbursement for the use of a privately owned automobile on state business, being the only rate authorized by statute, cannot be deemed a grievance against a particular state agency since that agency has no power to allow reimbursement beyond the statutory rate. As provided in 26 M.R.S.A., § 970 (note 3 supra), the only grievances which may be taken before an arbitrator empowered to make binding decisions are disputes between the parties as to the meaning or application of the specific terms of the collective bargaining agreement. Where the instant agreement contained an agency shop provision, such arbitrator must assume its validity as he has no authority to subtract it from the agreement for illegality, nor can he modify the agreement by considering it unlawful. Hence, the report of the Court's ruling was in that aspect proper. See Lewiston Firefighters Ass'n v. City of Lewiston, 1976, Me., 354 A.2d 154, 167.