Opinion ID: 1446776
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: DOES RES JUDICATA PRECLUDE LITIGATION OF DeNARDO'S CLAIMS?

Text: DeNardo attempts to characterize his claim as one for a denial of his due process rights, based on the Labor Relations Agency's failure to follow the proper procedures in regard to the hearing held on his unfair labor practice charges, and for an unconstitutional impairment of his employment contract. However, DeNardo has twice previously sued the state to recover money damages allegedly incurred as a result of his discharge from employment. The superior court in this case did not reach the merits of DeNardo's claims but disposed of them on res judicata grounds. Under the doctrine of res judicata, a judgment on the merits of the controversy bars subsequent actions between the same parties upon the same claim. Drickersen v. Drickersen, 546 P.2d 162, 169 (Alaska 1976) (quoting 1B J. Moore, Moore's Federal Practice ¶ 0.405, at 621 (2d ed. 1980)); accord, Calhoun v. Greening, 636 P.2d 69, 71-72 (Alaska 1981); Engebreth v. Moore, 567 P.2d 305, 307 (Alaska 1977). The doctrine implements the generally recognized public policy that there must be some end to litigation and that when one appears in court to present his case, is fully heard, and the contested issue is decided against him, he may not later renew the litigation in another court. Drickersen, 546 P.2d at 169 (citations omitted), quoted in Engebreth, 567 P.2d at 307. It is settled that res judicata precludes relitigation by the same parties, not only of claims raised in the first proceeding, but also of those relevant claims that could have been raised. Calhoun, 636 P.2d at 72; see also Pankratz v. State, Dep't of Highways, 652 P.2d 68, 74 (Alaska 1982). The claims extinguished by the first judgment include all rights of the plaintiff to remedies against the defendant with respect to all or any part of the transaction ... out of which the action arose, State v. Smith, 720 P.2d 40, 41 (Alaska 1986) (quoting with approval Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 24(a) (1982)); a mere change in the legal theory asserted as a ground for recovery will not avoid the preclusive effect of the judgment. Id.; Pankratz, 652 P.2d at 74. Application of these principles of claim preclusion suggest that DeNardo cannot maintain the present action. His prior state court case, as well as the case brought in federal court, involved the same parties: DeNardo as plaintiff and the state as a defendant. Each arose from the same transaction: DeNardo's discharge from employment in 1978 and the subsequent unfair labor practice proceeding before the Labor Relations Agency. The nucleus of facts and the evidence presented in this case would be identical to that which would have been adduced in the prior actions had they proceeded to trial. See Harris v. Jacobs, 621 F.2d 341, 343 (9th Cir.1980) (listing these as among the factors determining identity of the causes of action for purposes of res judicata). Our decisions make clear that the fact that DeNardo now frames his claim in terms of constitutional violations rather than tort or civil rights does not lift the bar to relitigation resulting from the first judgment. [3] We also find the decision in Hixon v. Morse, 120 Ariz. 356, 586 P.2d 201 (Ct.App. 1978), persuasive on this issue. In Hixon, the plaintiff's claim arose from the termination of his worker's compensation benefits by administrative decision. The court of appeals had previously affirmed the dismissal of the complaint, holding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction because the plaintiff's remedy lay in requesting a hearing before the agency and that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. See Hixon v. State Compensation Fund, 115 Ariz. 392, 565 P.2d 898, 899 (Ct.App. 1977). In the subsequent action, the plaintiff embellished his complaint with additional allegations in an apparent attempt to correct the pleading deficiencies which the court of appeals had identified. See Hixon v. Morse, 586 P.2d at 202. The trial court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment on the ground that res judicata barred the claim, and the court of appeals again affirmed: Regardless of the additional allegations, appellant's claim arises solely from the termination of his workmen's compensation benefits by an administrative decision, for which the exclusive remedy for review lay with the Industrial Commission of Arizona. As such, it is barred by the judgment of dismissal on the identical underlying facts in the previous case. Id. at 202-03 (citations omitted). Cf. Southern Pac. Transp. v. Public Utils. Comm'n, 716 F.2d 1285, 1289 (9th Cir.1983), cert. denied and appeal dismissed, 466 U.S. 936, 104 S.Ct. 1908, 80 L.Ed.2d 457 (1984) (denial, without hearing or opinion, of petition for review of agency decision constitutes denial on the merits and is accorded res judicata effect). Because we have concluded herein that all of the prerequisites for application of res judicata have been met, DeNardo cannot maintain his claim unless an exception to the doctrine allows continuation of this litigation. Such an exception exists with respect to a void judgment, which is subject to collateral attack. See Holt v. Powell, 420 P.2d 468, 471 (Alaska 1966). A judgment is void where the state in which the judgment was rendered had no jurisdiction to subject the parties or the subject matter to its control, or where the defendant was not given proper notice of the action and opportunity to be heard, or where the judgment was not rendered by a duly constituted court with competency to render it, or where there was a failure to comply with such requirements as are necessary for the valid exercise of power by the court. Id. (footnotes omitted). None of these conditions exists in the case at bar. Furthermore, it is well established that a decision is not subject to collateral attack if it is merely erroneous rather than void. See Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 17 comment d (1982); e.g., Moffat v. Moffat, 27 Cal.3d 645, 165 Cal. Rptr. 877, 882, 612 P.2d 967, 972 (Cal. 1980) (en banc); Bresolin v. Morris, 86 Wash.2d 241, 543 P.2d 325, 328 (1975). Thus, even if the decision of the Labor Relations Agency were void because the agency committed the procedural errors alleged by DeNardo, the superior court judgment affirming the agency decision on the merits would then be erroneous, not void, and the judgment would still have res judicata effect. [4] See Southern Pac. Transp., 716 F.2d at 1290 (rejecting argument that agency decision should not preclude subsequent action because agency had lacked jurisdiction, on grounds that supreme court's denial of review, not the agency decision itself, was given preclusive effect). In the case at bar, moreover, the initial superior court judgment affirmed the agency decision based on DeNardo's failure to file a timely appeal; the validity or invalidity of the underlying agency decision is thus irrelevant to the validity of the subsequent affirmance.