Opinion ID: 2636924
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Jarco's Constitutional Claims

Text: Jarco contends that the Commission violated its constitutional rights by failing to hold a hearing on its complaint and by failing to employ customary standards of investigation. As noted above, Jarco voluntarily waived its right to a hearing, while represented by counsel, and agreed to have the ALJ issue its decision after receiving written submissions from the parties. Nonetheless, Jarco argues on appeal that the ALJ misled Jarco by implying that it would be able to decide the dispute without the need of a hearing, and then issued its decision on only the procedural aspects of PSC's investigation. Upon independent review of the record, we conclude that Jarco's claim is without merit. First, there is no evidence in the record to indicate that the decision by Jarco to waive its right to a hearing was anything other than completely voluntary or that the ALJ made any representations that could have misled Jarco regarding its decision to waive the hearing. Moreover, the Commission specifically recognized that the ALJ erred to the extent that it stated that it was without jurisdiction to resolve the dispute between Jarco and PSC. However, the Commission noted that the ALJ made sufficient factual findings to allow the Commission to resolve the dispute and concluded that PSC did not improperly bill Jarco for the utility services at issue. Jarco also argues that the Commission violated its constitutional rights by failing to employ customary standards of investigation in reaching its decision. [6] Jarco's essential argument on this issue is that it believes the Commission gave undue weight to evidence in the record presented by JaiTire to PSC. We conclude, upon independent review of the record, that the Commission's decision is in accordance with the evidence in the record. Accordingly, we reject Jarco's constitutional claims.