Opinion ID: 2278775
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Hearsay Testimony and the Claim for Defamation

Text: We note first that the issue of whether the trial court erred in permitting hearsay testimony to establish the publication element of defamation is not properly before this Court. Petitioners did not raise the hearsay issue in their petition for writ of certiorari  as stated supra, they asked only that this Court address whether an employer must arbitrate an employee's grievance after the employee has waived arbitration and the time limits have passed and also whether an employee who is subject to a collective bargaining agreement must exhaust his or her remedies under that agreement before proceeding with a lawsuit in court. Petitioners first raised the hearsay issue in their answer to Respondents' petition for writ of certiorari. They stated: This Court should deny the petition for writ of certiorari that is based on issues not decided by the Court of Special Appeals. Alternatively, if this Court grants certiorari, it should review all of the issues presented to the Court of Special Appeals. More specifically, through the vehicle of an answer to the Fosters' petition for writ of certiorari, Carol Gazunis and the Board asked us to decide whether the trial court erred in permitting hearsay testimony to prove the publication element of defamation. [16] Maryland Rule 8-131(b) provides, in pertinent part: Unless otherwise provided by the order granting the writ of certiorari, in reviewing a decision rendered by the Court of Special Appeals or by a circuit court acting in an appellate capacity, the Court of Appeals ordinarily will consider only an issue that has been raised in the petition for certiorari or any cross-petition and that has been preserved for review by the Court of Appeals. See also Wynn v. State, 351 Md. 307, 320, 718 A.2d 588, 594 (1998) (explaining that this Court generally does not address any issue that was not raised in a petition for writ of certiorari or cross-petition granted by the Court). Moreover, Carol Gazunis and the Board failed to address the hearsay issue in their brief filed in this Court. Petitioners addressed only the collective bargaining issue in their brief, arguing: An employer subject to a collective bargaining agreement has no obligation to arbitrate an employee's grievance where the employee withdrew her request for arbitration and later sought to revive her request after the time to invoke arbitration had expired. Respondents, in their brief, addressed the collective bargaining issue and also addressed the issues originally presented in their petition for writ of certiorari. Petitioners, in their reply brief, then discussed the hearsay issue. In accordance with the decisional law of this Court, a reply brief should ordinarily be confined to responding to the points and issues raised in the appellee's brief. Ritchie v. Donnelly, 324 Md. 344, 375, 597 A.2d 432, 447 (1991). See also Strauss v. Strauss, 101 Md.App. 490, 509 n. 4, 647 A.2d 818, 828 n. 4 (1994) (stating that the scope of a reply brief is limited to the points raised in appellee's brief, which, in turn, address[es] the issues originally raised by appellant. . . . A reply brief cannot be used as a tool to inject new arguments); Fed. Land Bank v. Esham, 43 Md.App. 446, 459, 406 A.2d 928, 936 (1979) (explaining that [t]he function of a reply brief is limited. The appellant has the opportunity and duty to use the opening salvo of his original brief to state and argue clearly each point of his appeal. . . . the reply brief must be limited to responding to the points and issues raised in the appellee's brief'). Accordingly, appellate courts ordinarily do not consider issues that are raised for the first time in a party's reply brief. See Jones v. State, 379 Md. 704, 713, 843 A.2d 778, 783 (2004) (explaining that the State did not raise the argument in its opening brief on appeal, subjecting it to the rule that an appellate court ordinarily will not consider an issue raised for the first time in a reply brief). We note that, notwithstanding the general rule, appellate courts have the discretion to hear such issues. [17] In this case, after Petitioners raised the hearsay issue in their reply brief, Respondents filed a motion to strike the hearsay issue from this case. Petitioners filed an opposition to the motion. This Court deferred action on the motion pending oral argument. At oral argument, both parties addressed the procedural question of whether this Court should reach the hearsay issue but did not address the merits of the hearsay argument. As a result, if we decide the hearsay issue on the merits, we will have heard only Petitioners' arguments on the issue. While this Court retains the discretion to hear issues raised only in a reply brief, we see no reason to reach the merits of the hearsay issue and unnecessarily prejudice Respondents. The hearsay issue was properly raised in the Court of Special Appeals and both parties briefed the issue before that court. Because of the way the intermediate appellate court decided the case, it did not address that issue, as well as several others. We therefore remand the case to that court for consideration of the issues [18] not addressed in its opinion. [19] Accordingly, we grant Respondents' motion to strike the hearsay issue raised in this Court. Because we are remanding the case to the Court of Special Appeals as to the defamation issue, we need not address the parties' issues concerning the Circuit Court's negation of Carol Gazunis's liability [20] in accordance with Md.Code (1974, 2006 Repl.Vol.), § 5-518(e) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article. Similarly, we need not reach the issue of whether the Circuit Court was correct to limit the Board's damages to $100,000, pursuant to Md.Code (1974, 2006 Repl.Vol.), § 5-518(b) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article. [21] The need to address these issues will depend upon the intermediate appellate court's decision as to the hearsay issue. [22] The Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Claims for Wrongful Demotion and Termination and Breach of Contract The collective bargaining agreement, in this case, begins with an informal grievance procedure and then sets forth four specific steps of that process. The agreement exists between the Montgomery County Council of Supporting Services Employees and the Board, for the benefit of its employees. Neither party disputes that Amelia Foster was covered by the agreement. The agreement defines grievance as a claim by one party that the other party has violated th[e] Agreement. The purpose of the agreement is to secure, at the lowest possible administrative level, equitable solutions to the problems which may occur in the administration of th[e] Agreement. [23] The agreement explains that [a] suspension, demotion, discharge or other disciplinary action may only be taken against unit members for proper cause. It states, thereafter, that [n]o grievance shall be initiated more than fifteen (15) duty days after the cause has occurred or should have been discovered. In addition, [a] grievance shall be automatically waived and shall not be subject to further discussion or appeal if the grievant does not process it within any of the stated time limits. Such time limits may only be extended by mutual agreement between the parties. The agreement then explains that [a] covered unit member will first discuss his/her grievance with his/her immediate supervisor. Both parties will make efforts to solve the grievance at this informal level. The agreement then outlines the four-step procedure. Under the heading, Step One, it states: If the grievance cannot be solved at the informal level, the unit member then submits the grievance to his/her appropriate administrator in writing within fifteen (15) duty days after the grievance arises. If the appropriate administrator does not satisfy it within ten (10) duty days from receipt of the written grievance, the grievance may be processed to Step Two. Under the heading, Step Two, the agreement continues: If the grievant is not satisfied with the disposition in Step One, he/she may file his/her grievance in writing to the MCCSSE within five (5) duty days. The MCCSSE, within five (5) duty days from such filing, shall meet and counsel the grievant on the merits of the grievance and if the Union deems it to be meritorious, forward the grievance to the deputy superintendent or appropriate associate superintendent. If the grievance is referred within the time limits, the deputy superintendent or appropriate associate superintendent shall have five (5) duty days to respond to the grievant. Step Three, further adds, in pertinent part: 1. If the grievant is not satisfied with the disposition in Step Two, he/she may again file his/her grievance in writing with the MCCSSE within five (5) duty days. Within five (5) duty days from such filing, the Union shall meet and counsel the grievant and if the Union deems it to be meritorious, forward the grievance to the superintendent. If the grievance is referred within the time limits, the superintendent shall have ten (10) duty days to respond to the grievant. Of most importance to this case, Step Four-Arbitration, explains, in pertinent part: 1. If the grievant is not satisfied with the disposition of the grievance made by the superintendent, he/she may file it in writing with the MCCSSE within five (5) duty days for the Union's decision on whether or not the grievance shall be submitted to arbitration. 2. Arbitration may be initiated by the grieving party by serving notice upon the other party requesting arbitration within fifteen (15) duty days. . . . The receiving party will acknowledge his/her agreement with the submission to arbitration statement by affixing his/her signature to the submission form within five (5) duty days and returning the form to the grieving party. . . . 3. The grieving party may submit the matter to arbitration within five (5) duty days of the return of the submission statement form. The superintendent and the president of MCCSSE will attempt to agree upon a mutually acceptable arbitrator and obtain a commitment from said arbitrator to serve.       Petitioners argue that the Board, even though it was subject to this collective bargaining agreement, was under no obligation to arbitrate Ms. Foster's grievances for wrongful demotion, termination and breach of contract after she withdrew her initial request for arbitration and her request to revive the arbitration was not timely. They explain that, while Ms. Foster properly filed her grievance and invoked her right to arbitration under the agreement, she then voluntarily withdrew her arbitration request. Petitioners contend that, in so doing, Ms. Foster waived her right to continue with the grievance process provided by the collective bargaining agreement because the Board closed the grievance. Petitioners note that the Circuit Court recognized that Ms. Foster had failed to exhaust her contractual remedies and therefore stayed the counts for wrongful demotion and termination and breach of contract. They contend, however, that the Circuit Court failed to realize that Ms. Foster was no longer able to arbitrate her claims under the collective bargaining agreement because she had already waived her right to continue with the contractual grievance process. Furthermore, according to Petitioners, because of the waiver, Ms. Foster could no longer proceed with arbitration under the time requirements set forth in the collective bargaining contract. They aver that the Circuit Court erred when it permitted Ms. Foster's wrongful demotion claim to be decided by the jury, and the Court of Special Appeals erred in remanding the case to the Circuit Court on the issue of whether the Board had waived its right to arbitrate. Petitioners rely primarily on Arroyo v. Bd. of Educ. of Howard County, 381 Md. 646, 661, 851 A.2d 576, 585 (2004), and Jenkins v. Wm. Schluderberg-T.J. Kurdle Co., 217 Md. 556, 561-62, 144 A.2d 88, 91 (19586), for the proposition that a plaintiff must exhaust all available remedies before pursuing relief in court. Respondents counter that there exists nothing in the collective bargaining agreement that mandates that an employee avail himself or herself of the grievance procedure and furthermore that Step Four provides that arbitration is optional, not mandatory. They contend that Ms. Foster did not have to follow through with arbitration because the collective bargaining agreement states explicitly that [i]f the grievant is not satisfied with the disposition of the grievance made by the superintendent, he/she may file it in writing. . . . (Emphasis added). They assert that if Ms. Foster was required to submit her claim to arbitration, the agreement would instead use the word must. Respondents also argue that Arroyo is not dispositive because Arroyo dealt with statutory administrative remedies and not remedies under a collective bargaining agreement. They posit that Maryland law establishes that a plaintiff is not required to exhaust remedies available under a grievance procedure contained in a collective bargaining agreement in order to pursue a wrongful demotion or termination claim against an employer, citing Finch v. Holladay-Tyler Printing, Inc., 322 Md. 197, 586 A.2d 1275 (1991). In addition, Respondents contend that the Court of Special Appeals erred in failing to conclude that the Board waived its right to arbitrate when the Board refused to arbitrate Ms. Foster's claim and after the Circuit Court stayed the wrongful demotion and termination and breach of contract claims.