Opinion ID: 2329083
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Brummell's Failure to Consult with an EEO Counselor

Text: DCHA asserts that DHR should have dismissed Brummell's complaint because he did not consult first with an EEO Counselor at DPAH in accordance with the regulatory procedure outlined above. Its own failure to raise this argument before the agency or in Superior Court must be excused, DCHA argues, because Brummell's failure to seek counseling deprived DHR of jurisdiction over his complaint. We disagree; even if Brummell's procedural default would have required DHR to dismiss his complaint, had the point been raised, it did not implicate DHR's power to act on his complaint in the relevant sense. DCHA therefore has waived its right to object on the basis of Brummell's misstep. We have long held that we will not review a procedural claim that was not adequately raised at the agency level. Administrative and judicial efficiency require that all claims be first raised at the agency level to allow appropriate development and administrative response before judicial review.... Failing to object at a time when an error complained of on appeal could be corrected below is sufficient to work a forfeit of that claim on appeal. Fair Care Found. v. District of Columbia Dep't of Ins. & Sec. Regulation, 716 A.2d 987, 993 (D.C.1998) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted); see also Goodman v. District of Columbia Rental Hous. Comm'n, 573 A.2d 1293, 1301 (D.C.1990) (In the absence of exceptional circumstances, a reviewing court will refuse to consider contentions not presented before the administrative agency at the appropriate time.); Jones & Artis Constr. Co. v. District of Columbia Contract Appeals Bd., 549 A.2d 315, 324 (D.C.1988). [S]imple fairness to those who are engaged in the tasks of administration, and to litigants, requires as a general rule that courts should not topple over administrative decisions unless the administrative body not only has erred but has erred against objection made at the time appropriate under its practice. United States v. L.A. Tucker Truck Lines, Inc., 344 U.S. 33, 37, 73 S.Ct. 67, 97 L.Ed. 54 (1952). One principal reason for the rule that procedural objections must be timely made is to give the tribunal and opposing parties the opportunity to correct or controvert the purported defect when it is still possible to do so. District of Columbia Gen. Hosp. v. District of Columbia Office of Employee Appeals, 548 A.2d 70, 74 (D.C.1988). Another main reason is that judicial review might be hindered by the failure of the litigant to allow the agency to make a factual record, exercise its discretion, or apply its expertise. R.R. Yardmasters of Am. v. Harris, 232 U.S.App. D.C. 171, 177, 721 F.2d 1332, 1338 (1983). These reasons for applying the waiver rule are pertinent here. For one thing, it is at least possible that, if DCHA had made a timely request to DHR to dismiss Brummell's complaint on account of his failure to consult with an EEO Counselor, Brummell could have cured the problem by engaging in such consultation in a timely fashion. [15] Furthermore, although the requirement to consult with an EEO Counselor before filing a discrimination complaint is mandatory, that does not necessarily mean that DHR had no discretion to excuse Brummell's noncompliance for equitable reasons that Brummell might have been able to furnish on the record. Such discretion exists under analogous federal law and regulations. See Bayer v. United States Dep't of the Treasury, 294 U.S.App. D.C. 44, 46-47, 956 F.2d 330, 332-33 (1992) (holding that failure to consult an EEO Counselor within thirty days of alleged discriminatory act before filing employment discrimination complaint under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is not jurisdictional and can be excused for equitable reasons, such as employee's lack of knowledge of the requirement) (citing cases). We look to federal cases interpreting Title VII and its implementing regulations for guidance in our decisions under the D.C. Human Rights Act. Blackman v. Visiting Nurses Ass'n, 694 A.2d 865, 869 (D.C.1997). The issue under District of Columbia law is an open one, and in construing the regulation a reviewing court doubtless would benefit from receiving DHR's views on the matter on a full factual record. Cathedral Park Condo. Comm. v. District of Columbia Zoning Comm'n, 743 A.2d 1231, 1239 (D.C.2000). It is true, as DCHA argues, that a discretionary exception to the waiver rule exists where it is claimed that the agency had no power to act at all. R.R. Yardmasters, 232 U.S.App. D.C. at 177, 721 F.2d at 1338 (exercising discretion to entertain, though ultimately rejecting, a newly-raised legal claim challenging the National Mediation Board's power to take any action while there were two vacancies on the three-member Board). This absence of power to act exception is a narrow one, however. [16] See, e.g., Jones & Artis, 549 A.2d at 324 (holding that failure to make timely objection to lack of quorum for agency action amounted to a waiver of the objection on appeal). While the language of Yardmasters might be construed to allow almost any defect in the jurisdiction of an agency to be raised for the first time on review, our later decisions construing Yardmasters have limited the exception to challenges that concern the very composition or `constitution' of an agency. Mitchell v. Christopher, 302 U.S.App. D.C. 109, 112-13, 996 F.2d 375, 378-79 (1993) (rejecting as untimely a challenge to Grievance Board's jurisdiction to hear terminated employee's complaint and to recommend that employee be promoted retroactively). Put differently, this exception to waiver applies only where the challenge is to the agency's inherent capacity to act, Jones & Artis, 549 A.2d at 324, or where the challenged action is plausibly claimed to be patently in excess of the agency's authority, Washington Ass'n for Television & Children v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, 229 U.S.App. D.C. 363, 368, 712 F.2d 677, 682 (1983) (internal quotation marks, brackets and citation omitted). Otherwise, the general rule is that even jurisdictional questions [must] be put to agencies before they are brought to [the reviewing court]. Mitchell, 302 U.S.App. D.C. at 113, 996 F.2d at 379. [17] See, e.g., Cmty. Hosps. of Cent. Cal. v. Nat'l Labor Relations Bd., 357 U.S.App. D.C. 361, 371, 335 F.3d 1079, 1089 (2003) (finding waived the argument that National Labor Relations Board should not have decided issue not factually related to allegations in unfair labor practice charge); United Transp. Union v. Surface Transp. Bd., 325 U.S.App. D.C. 34, 37-38, 114 F.3d 1242, 1245-46 (1997) (finding waived the argument that Surface Transportation Board exceeded its authority in reviewing arbitration award). The present case is comparable to Mitchell; it simply does not fall within the narrow Yardmasters category. It is indeed tempting to say, as the District of Columbia Circuit put it in Bayer, that while the requirement to consult an EEO Counselor may be a mandatory administrative remedies exhaustion requirement, it is not jurisdictional. 294 U.S.App. D.C. at 46, 956 F.2d at 332; see Burton v. District of Columbia, 835 A.2d 1076, 1079 (D.C.2003) (exhaustion doctrine is not a jurisdictional requirement and is thus subject to waiver, estoppel, and other mitigating factors). But the outcome here does not turn on labelson whether DCHA contests procedure, not jurisdiction, for example. Jones & Artis, 549 A.2d at 324. It is enough to say that DCHA does not challenge the composition or constitution of DHR, or DHR's inherent capacity to act, and that while it may be unclear whether DHR should have dismissed Brummell's complaint, its failure to do so was not patently in excess of the agency's authority. We therefore see no sound reason to exercise our discretion to relieve DCHA of the consequences of its acquiescence in DHR's assumption of jurisdiction over Brummell's complaint. [18] Cf. B.J.P. v. R.W.P., 637 A.2d 74, 78-80 (D.C.1994).