Opinion ID: 2508633
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: NMHRA claims

Text: {19} Ocana argues that the district court's granting of summary judgment on her NMHRA claim was erroneous because the 30-day period for filing her appeal to state district court under the statute should have been tolled for reasons similar to her Title VII tolling arguments. She argues that the 30-day period was tolled as a result of the Division's failure to notify her attorney of its decision, and that the 30-day period did not begin to run until she actually received the no-probable-cause letter from the Division. Because we conclude that Ocana established the existence of a material fact as to whether the Division's failure to notify her attorney of record tolled the 30-day filing period, we do not discuss whether the 30-day period begins to run on the date the complainant actually receives notice of the no-probable-cause decision from the Division. {20} An individual aggrieved by an order of the Human Rights Commission may file an appeal in the form of a complaint to state district court within 30 days from the date of service of the Commission's order. See Section 28-1-13(A) (1987); accord Rule 1-076(B) & (D) NMRA 2003. The Commission issued its decision in this case in July 1999. The Division, however, did not notify Ocana's attorney of record of the decision because, as a Division supervisor admitted in an affidavit, he was erroneously not put on [the mail] distribution list. As the Division supervisor implied in her statement, the Division normally corresponds with a complainant through his or her attorney once the attorney files an entry of appearance on the complainant's behalf. The Division did not do this in this case. As a result, Ocana did not receive notice of the Division's decision until much later. Under these facts, a fact-finder could find that the Division's actions tolled the time limits. Since Ocana presented sufficient evidence showing at least a reasonable doubt as to the existence of a genuine factual issue on the tolling of the statute, summary judgment should not have been granted on this claim. Therefore, summary judgment on Ocana's NMHRA claim on the basis that it was time barred was improper.