Opinion ID: 2582098
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: governmental immunity and the basis of the pay equity claim

Text: ¶ 35 Governmental immunity is an affirmative defense to suits against state or local government. Trujillo v. Utah Dep't of Transp., 1999 UT App 227, ¶ 27, 986 P.2d 752 (citing Nelson v. Salt Lake City, 919 P.2d 568, 574 (Utah 1996)). Utah, like many other states, has a Governmental Immunity Act (GIA) that waives governmental immunity for certain kinds of claims against the state and its political subdivisions. Utah Code Ann. §§ 63-30-1 to -38 (2001). Further, the statute imposes procedural requirements, including notice of claim, that apply to some, but not all, of those claims for which immunity is waived. See, e.g., Id. §§ 63-30-5, 63-30-11 (2001). Compliance with the notice requirements, where applicable, is a prerequisite for subject matter jurisdiction. Thomas v. Lewis, 2001 UT 49, ¶ 13, 26 P.3d 217. The applicability of immunity and of the notice of claim requirements thus depends upon the nature and circumstances of a particular claim. The nature of a claim for pay equity seeking back pay as a remedy by public employees is a question of first impression for this court. We must examine the nature of the pay equity claim in order to determine whether the GIA and its notice provisions apply. ¶ 36 The trial court granted partial summary judgment to the deputies, holding that (1) the deputies had a claim for pay equity based in statute, and (2) the claim was not barred by the GIA's doctrine of discretionary functions set forth in Utah Code section 63-30-10(1). However, as discussed above, this ruling was predicated on the second judge's erroneous understanding that he was bound by the prior judge's denial of a motion to dismiss as law of the case. Here, only nineteen of the 124 plaintiffs complied with the notice requirements of the GIA. Breach of contract claims are exempted from the notice requirements, see Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-5, but we have now held that the deputies had no claim for breach of contract. Utah also has a well-established common law exception for equitable claims, see Am. Tierra Corp. v. City of W. Jordan, 840 P.2d 757 (Utah 1992); El Rancho Enters., Inc. v. Murray City Corp., 565 P.2d 778 (Utah 1977), and the deputies characterize their claim as equitable because it seeks back pay. The county contends, however, that the pay equity claim is a statutory claim to which the notice requirements apply. The county also contends that the statute provides no private right of action to deputies seeking back pay, casting doubt on whether the deputies have a claim at all. We first consider the basis and nature of the pay equity claim, and then take up the GIA issues of immunity and notice.
¶ 37 A private statutory right of action exists when a private party can bring a lawsuit for relief from injuries caused by another's violation of a federal statute. Donna L. Goldstein, Note, Implied Private Rights of Action Under Federal Statutes: Congressional Intent, Judicial Deference, or Mutual Abdication? 50 Fordham L.Rev. 611 (1982). Many statutes do not provide a private right to sue in court. Id. For example, the Utah Antidiscrimination Act prohibits certain employment practices. Utah Code Ann. § 34A-5-106 (2001). However, the exclusive remedy for an employee claiming a violation of the statute is an appeal to the state Division of Antidiscrimination and Labor. Id. § 34A-5-107; Sauers v. Salt Lake County, 735 F.Supp. 381 (D.Utah 1990) (reviewing identical statutory language in a superseded version of the statute); Gottling v. P.R. Inc., 2002 UT 95, ¶ 10, 61 P.3d 989. Aggrieved employees may have other causes of action that can be brought to court. Sauers, 735 F.Supp. at 386 (stating that intentional tort claims and certain state constitutional tort claims might not be preempted by the Act, even though claims stemming from sexual harassment were preempted). Additionally, the Division of Antidiscrimination may seek judicial enforcement of its ruling. Utah Code Ann. § 34A-5-108. But the Act itself only provides for suit by the Division of Labor Commission to enforce one of its own rulings, not for suit by a private citizen asserting a violation of the Act. Id. § 34A-5-107(15),-108. ¶ 38 Further, private rights of action are those that belong to the individual person or subgroup, as distinguished from those enforceable only on behalf of the general public. Solar Salt Co. v. S. Pac. Transp. Co., 555 P.2d 286, 290-91 (Utah 1976) (Maughan J., dissenting). Thus, a statute requiring drivers to remove car keys and lock the vehicle can be enforced by the state, but does not establish a duty owed to a private individual who died when hit by a stolen car whose owner had violated the statute. Rollins v. Petersen, 813 P.2d 1156, 1164 (Utah 1991). Moreover, even if a statute expressly grants a private right of action, the scope of such right may not include all remedies. See, e.g., Alexander v. Sandoval, 532 U.S. 275, 287-88, 121 S.Ct. 1511, 149 L.Ed.2d 517 (2001) (holding that Title VI does not authorize suit by a private citizen to enforce disparate-impact regulations, even though it authorizes the regulations themselves and authorizes private suit under other provisions). ¶ 39 The United States Supreme Court established a four-factor test for determining whether a private right of action can be inferred from a federal statute in Cort v. Ash, 422 U.S. 66, 78, 95 S.Ct. 2080, 45 L.Ed.2d 26 (1975). The Utah Court of Appeals applied the Cort factors in Broadbent v. Cache County School District Board of Education, 910 P.2d 1274, 1279 (Utah Ct.App. 1996). The court of appeals stated these factors as: (1) whether the plaintiff is a member of a class for whose special benefit the statute was enacted; (2) whether [the legislature] intended to create or deny a private remedy; (3) whether a private remedy would be consistent with the Statute's underlying purposes; and (4) the extent to which the cause of action is traditionally relegated to state law. Id. (citing Griffin v. Memmott, 814 P.2d 601, 602 (Utah Ct.App.1991) (finding no private statutory right of action under a federal statute)). As the Broadbent court pointed out, however, a Utah court is not bound to apply the Cort factors in a manner identical to a federal court. Id. ¶ 40 In Utah, [i]n the absence of language expressly granting a private right of action[,] . . . the courts of this state are reluctant to imply a private right of action based on state law. Miller v. Weaver, 2003 UT 12, ¶ 20, 66 P.3d 592 (citing Young v. Salt Lake City Sch. Dist., 2002 UT 64, ¶ 21, 52 P.3d 1230). ¶ 41 Whether a particular statute provides a private right of action is a question of statutory interpretation. Miller, 2003 UT 12 at ¶ 17, 66 P.3d 592. In Miller, we considered a statute stating that `[n]o civil action by or on behalf of a student relating to the professional competence or performance of a certified employee of a school district . . . may be brought in court until at least 60 days after the filing of a written complaint with the board of education.' Id. at ¶ 18 (quoting Utah Code Ann. § 53A-7-202(1) (1997)). We held that this language did not expressly provide a student or parent with a private cause of action against a teacher, stating that we must require more than a mere allusion to `civil action[s]' as evidence of a legislative intent to impart substantive rights. Id. at ¶ 21. To the contrary, we concluded that the whole thrust of this statute was unambiguously procedural. Id. at ¶¶ 18-19. Considering the statute in its entirety, we reasoned that a method for remedying statutory violations already existed in the form of an appeal to the school board and/or the State Board of Education. Id. at ¶ 21. We further held that it would be inconsistent with the legislature's statutory scheme to infer a private right of action for parents or students against a teacher from the statute. Id. at ¶ 22. The purpose of the statute was to create a state commission to hear complaints against teachers and take disciplinary action; allowing plaintiffs a cause of action under the statute would `override . . . a system which the Legislature has at least tacitly, if not expressly, sanctioned.' Id. (quoting Broadbent, 910 P.2d at 1280). ¶ 42 Similarly, in Young, we held that an administrative regulation requiring each elementary school to prepare a routing plan for students walking to school did not create a private right of action for a student who had been struck by a car while in a crosswalk. 2002 UT 64 at ¶ 21, 52 P.3d 1230. The purpose of the regulation was to ensure uniformity in traffic control devices and crossing guards[,] . . . not to make school districts liable. Id. The rule was silent on any private right of action in court. Thus, there was no evidence of legislative intent to create a private right of action for a person harmed while walking to school. Id. ¶ 43 Utah courts have rarely, if ever, found a Utah statute to grant an implied private right of action. [6] In Broadbent, for example, the Utah Court of Appeals came to a conclusion opposite that of the Tenth Circuit in regard to exactly the same statutes. Compare Broadbent, 910 P.2d at 1279 with Whitney v. Bd. of Educ., 292 F.3d 1280 (10th Cir.2002). Both courts addressed the question of whether the Educator Evaluation Act, Utah Code Ann. §§ 53A-10-101 to -111 (1994) and the Orderly School Termination Procedures Act, id. §§ 53A-8-101 to -107 (Supp.1995), provided a private right of action to an untenured teacher. Broadbent, 910 P.2d at 1279; Whitney, 292 F.3d at 1290. Applying the Cort factors, the Utah Court of Appeals found (1) that the Evaluation Act was intended to improve the overall quality of the educational system, educators were at most incidental beneficiaries of the acts, and there was no indication of legislative intent to modify a school's termination procedures with respect to provisional teachers; and (2) the Termination Act granted only due process rights to notice and a hearing. Broadbent, 910 P.2d at 1279. In contrast, the Tenth Circuit inferred from the mandatory language setting forth the due process rights that the legislature must have intended employees to have a cause of action, ignoring the other Cort factors. Whitney, 292 F.3d at 1289. The federal court also distinguished Broadbent because it concerned a provisional educator, not a tenured teacher. Id. at 1288. ¶ 44 As indicated above, the relevant statutes here are the CPMA, Utah Code Ann. §§ 17-30-1 to -15; and the Merit Act, Utah Code Ann. §§ 17-33-1 to -24. The question before us is not simply whether employees may sue to enforce a pay equity requirement in the statutes, but whether the statutes authorize a remedy for noncompliance in the form of back pay for past periods of pay inequity. As in Miller, we first examine the statutes to determine whether their plain language reveals an express legislative intent to create a private right of action for employees with pay grievances. ¶ 45 Section 17-33-5(3)(b)(xiii) of the CPMA requires that county personnel rules provide for: preparation, maintenance, and revision of a position classification plan for all positions in the career service, based upon similarity of duties performed and responsibilities assumed, so that the same qualifications may reasonably be required for, and the same schedule of pay may be equitably applied to, all positions in the same class, the compensation plan, in order to maintain a high quality public work force, to take into account the responsibility and difficulty of the work, the comparative pay and benefits needed to compete in the labor market and to stay in proper alignment with other similar governmental units, and other factors. Id. § 17-33-5(3)(b)(xiii) (emphasis added). The deputies argue that the pay inequities here, caused in part by the method of crediting outside law enforcement experience, violated this provision. However, the CPMA contains no express grant to employees of a cause of action based on the pay equity provision. ¶ 46 The CPMA does provide for appeals and grievances. Section 17-33-5(3)(b)(xvi) requires the personnel rules to provide for establishment of a plan for resolving employee grievances and complaints with final and binding decisions. Id. § 17-33-5(b)(6)(xvi). Sections 17-33-5(3)(b)(xv) and (xvii) require establishment of plans governing layoffs and of disciplinary measures, respectively. Section 17-33-10, titled Grievance and appeals procedure, states: (1) Any county to which the provisions of this act apply shall establish in its personnel rules and regulations a grievance and appeals procedure. The procedure shall be used to resolve disputes arising from grievances as defined in the rules and regulations, including but not limited to acts of discrimination. . . . . (2) Any charge by a county career service employee of discriminatory or unfair employment practice as prohibited by Section 34A-5-106, can be filed with the Division of Antidiscrimination. . . . Id. § 17-33-10. The CPMA also establishes a career service council that shall hear appeals. . . and other grievances not resolved by the grievance procedure at the division or departmental level, id. 17-33-4(1)(b), with judicial review of the council decisions in district court, such review limited to the record and employing an arbitrary and capricious standard of review, id. § 17-33-4(1)(d). Section 17-33-4.5 further provides the career service council with the option to refer appeals to an administrative law judge. Id. § 17-33-4.5. ¶ 47 Nothing in these provisions can be read as either an express or implied grant of a right of action to employees who have a grievance for pay equity. Instead, the legislature has provided for an appeals procedure to a career service council, with judicial review limited to the record of such appeal. The legislature directs charges of discrimination or prohibited employment practices under section 34A-5-106 to the Division of Antidiscrimination, a method of resolution that, as we noted earlier, does not provide the employee with a judicial cause of action. Id. § 17-3-10. ¶ 48 Moreover, there is no express grant to county employees of a remedy of back pay for pay inconsistent with section 17-33-5(3)(b)(xiii). Federal statutes explicitly include back pay as a remedy for violations of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(g) (2000), and of the Back Pay Act, 5 U.S.C. § 5596(b)(1) (2000). Utah's antidiscrimination statute also provides for back pay as a remedy that the Labor Division may require. Utah Code Ann. § 34A-5-107(9)(b) (2001). But the CPMA contains no such provisions. The legislature's silence cannot be interpreted as revealing an intent that employees have a right to seek back pay as a remedy for a claim to pay equity under the CPMA. ¶ 49 In Miller, this court stated that the reluctance [to imply a private right of action] is particularly strong when the Legislature has already designated a method of resolution through an administrative agency specifically empowered to handle issues such as the discipline or termination of teachers and police officers. 2003 UT 12 at ¶ 20, 66 P.3d 592. Here, although the statutory language requiring equitable pay for the deputies is mandatory, there is no express provision for employees to sue seeking a private remedy such as back pay. Further, the legislature did explicitly include an appeals procedure to resolve disputes arising from grievances . . . not limited to acts of discrimination. Utah Code Ann. § 17-33-10 (2001). As evidenced by sections 17-33-4, -4.5 and -10, the legislature created a statutory scheme for handling all grievances and appeals of county employees. The only provision for recourse to a court is a suit for judicial review of a career service council decision. The existence of this provision reveals a legislative intent to limit employees to this course of action. Thus, the CPMA contains no evidence of legislative intent to provide employees with a cause of action for back pay to remedy past pay equity, or for any other grievances stemming from county personnel rules and policies. ¶ 50 Further, it would be inconsistent with the legislature's statutory scheme to infer a private right of action for employees with pay grievances based on section 17-33-5(3)(b)(xiii). The CPMA recites Merit Principles which include provision of a formal procedure for processing the appeals and grievances of employees without discrimination, coercion, restraint or reprisal. Id. § 17-33-3(7). The provisions for appeals to the career service council, with judicial review limited to the record, and specifying that charges for discrimination are to be taken to the Division of Antidiscrimination, clearly make up a comprehensive scheme for dealing with employee grievances, including pay grievances. As in Miller, it would be inappropriate for this court to interfere with the legislature's scheme by inferring a private right of action from the pay equity provision. ¶ 51 Moreover, the explicit purpose of the pay equity and other pay plan elements is to maintain a high quality public workforce. Id. § 17-33-5(3)(b)(xiii). This language contradicts the notion that this provision was enacted for the special benefit of county employees (the first Cort factor). By its own terms, the provision was enacted for the benefit of the public, not to benefit a class of county employees. ¶ 52 Further, there is no clear and substantial public policy whose contravention by pay inequity for deputies would justify inferring a private statutory cause of action. See, e.g., Fox v. MCI Communications Corp., 931 P.2d 857, 860 (Utah 1997) (citing Berube v. Fashion Ctr., Ltd., 771 P.2d 1033, 1042 (Utah 1989) and Retherford v. AT & T Communications, 844 P.2d 949, 966 n. 9 (Utah 1992)). The deputies' claim of pay inequity does not implicate either fundamental rights or a protected class. Thus, there is no weighty rationale to overcome this court's normal reluctance to imply a cause of action from a statute. Even where there is a strong public policy, as in discrimination, the legislative body retains the right to specify the remedies and course of action available for violations of a statute it has enacted to pursue such policy. In both the federal antidiscrimination laws of Title VII and the Utah Antidiscrimination Act, the respective legislative bodies created statutory prohibitions against certain employer conduct while simultaneously specifying and limiting the victim's remedies and causes of action. Title VII grants a cause of action, but requires the employee claimant first to file with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the employee can sue in court only if the EEOC releases the claim. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f) (2000); see generally Jerald J. Director, Time Requirements for Civil Action for Violation of Equal Employment Opportunities Provisions Under § 706 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 4 A.L.R. Fed. 833, 837-39; Supp. 144-146 (1968 & Supp.2001). The Utah Antidiscrimination Act similarly prohibits a number of forms of employment discrimination, but limits a victim's recourse by providing that the exclusive remedy under state law for employment discrimination is the administrative procedure set forth in the Act. Utah Code Ann. § 34A-5-107(15). Moreover, despite the clear and strong public policy against employment discrimination, this court has read the exclusive remedy phrase literally to find that even though the Antidiscrimination Act applies only to employers with fifteen or more employees, it prohibits an employee of a business with fewer employees from bringing a common law action. Gottling v. P.R. Inc., 2002 UT 95, ¶¶ 12-13, 20, 61 P.3d 989 (citing Burton v. Exam Ctr. Indus. & Gen. Med., 2000 UT 18, ¶ 21, 994 P.2d 1261). Here, the deputies' pay equity claim involves no such compelling public policy, and we conclude there is no implied private right to bring such a claim under the CPMA. ¶ 53 The Merit Act also supplies no evidence that the legislature intended employees to have a cause of action for pay grievances. It provides procedures for examining candidates and hiring and disciplining of deputy sheriffs, and it also establishes the Deputy Sheriffs' Merit System Commission with the power to formulate a comprehensive job classification plan covering all peace officers of the governmental unit. Utah Code Ann. § 17-30-5. The Merit Act and the CPMA are intended to work together: This chapter recognizes the existence of the merit systems for peace officers . . . as provided for in Chapter 30. Id. § 17-33-1(3). However, the Commission is only authorized to hear appeals by applicants regarding the examination. Id. § 17-30-7. This court has previously held that under comparable statutory language in Utah Code section 10-3-1012, a municipal Civil Service Commission lacked jurisdiction to hear a claim of pay equity. Harmon v. Ogden City Civil Serv. Comm'n, 917 P.2d 1082, 1084-85 (Utah 1996). ¶ 54 For the foregoing reasons we hold that neither the CPMA nor the Merit Act create a private statutory right of action for employees to sue for pay equity with back pay as a remedy.
¶ 55 Although the deputies do not have a private statutory right of action for back pay to remedy past pay inequity in violation of the CPMA, the question remains whether they may, as they contend, claim back pay as compensation for past pay inequity in violation of a state civil service statute under this court's equitable jurisdiction. This is a novel question in Utah law, and also, it appears, in most other jurisdictions. If the deputies were employees in the private sector, any claim for back pay would necessarily be based on contract, wrongful termination, or unlawful discrimination, none of which is claimed here. Moreover, they are public employees, and the CPMA and the Merit Act require county administrators to create pay plans that ensure pay equity. ¶ 56 Generally, equitable jurisdiction is limited to cases in which either the remedy sought is an equitable remedy (injunction, mandamus, specific performance, contract reformation, job hiring or reinstatement), or because the plaintiff has no other remedy at law and the moral substance of the claim is so compelling that it requires a judicial remedy. Dan B. Dobbs, Law of Remedies, (2d ed. 1993); 27A Am.Jur.2d Equity §§ 39-45 (2000). Also, a suit in equity may be proper to enforce compliance with a statutory obligation. Id. § 51 (citing Reebok Int'l v. Marnatech Enters., 970 F.2d 552 (9th Cir.1992) (holding that the district court properly exercised equitable jurisdiction to grant an injunction and freeze assets to enforce the Lanham Act)). An equitable remedy may also be proper if fraud, duress, unconscionable hardship, or pecuniary results shocking to the conscience are involved. Marchant v. Nat'l Reserve Co., 103 Utah 530, 137 P.2d 331 (1943); see also 27A Am.Jur.2d Equity §§ 48, 49 (2003). However, the general rule is that equitable jurisdiction is precluded if the plaintiff has an adequate remedy at law and will not suffer substantial irreparable injury. Id. §§ 30, 45. Equitable jurisdiction is not justifiable simply because a party's remedy at law failed. Id. § 48. ¶ 57 This court has traditionally. . . limited the application of equity to cases of fraud, misrepresentation, duress, undue influence, mistake, and waiver. Utah Coal & Lumber Rest., Inc. v. Outdoor Endeavors Unlimited, 2001 UT 100, ¶ 13, 40 P.3d 581 (citations omitted). The deputies contend that the county represented to them that the Diamant arbitration would apply to them, but the record evidence they cite is extremely limited and certainly insufficient to support fraud. [7] The CPMA provides the deputies with a remedy at law: a grievance process with judicial review. The deputies have not argued that their injury is substantial and irreparable, that it is unconscionable, or that duress is involved. Moreover, as the county concedes, employees who are being paid inequitably normally have a remedy in an equitable cause of action seeking to compel a county to comply with the pay equity provision. See, e.g., Green v. Turner, 2000 UT 54, 4 P.3d 789; Glendale City Employees' Ass'n, Inc. v. City of Glendale, 15 Cal.3d 328, 124 Cal.Rptr. 513, 540 P.2d 609 (1975). Here, however, the pay plan was changed before these deputies brought suit, and they are seeking back pay to compensate for past pay inequity. Back pay is ordinarily considered a legal remedy comparable to money damages, rather than an equitable remedy. Hubbard v. EPA, 982 F.2d 531, 533 (D.C.Cir. 1992) (en banc) (holding that the Administrative Procedures Act did not waive sovereign immunity for a claim of money damages as compensation for a failure to hire that violated the plaintiff's civil rights); see also Colleen P. Murphy, Misclassifying Monetary Restitution 55 SMU L.Rev. 1577, 1628-35 (2002). [8] ¶ 58 The deputies argue that back pay is equitable relief. However, all the employment law cases they cite are based upon statutory violations of Title VII. These cases are inapposite for two reasons. First, Title VII explicitly provides back pay as a remedy, whereas Utah's statutes do not. Compare 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(g) (2000). Second, the violations of Title VII that justify the back pay remedy are limited to acts of racial or other discrimination, reflecting a public policy goal to end discrimination and make its victims whole. Such considerations do not exist here. For these reasons, we decline to treat the deputies' claim for pay equity as an equitable claim. Because we hold that the deputies have no breach of contract claim and that they have neither a private statutory right of action under the CPMA or the Merit Act, nor an equitable claim for back pay, we do not reach the issues of governmental immunity, notice, the county's compliance with the pay provision, the statute of limitations, or attorney's fees. [9]