Opinion ID: 853378
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Teachers' claim against the School Board

Text: Asserting that the School Board failed to pay them according to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement in place at the time the retirement notices were given, Teachers complain the School Board breached its contract. As such, according to Teachers, [t]his case is and was a proper matter of jurisdiction for the trial court. Br. of Appellant at 15. The construction of contracts and actions for their breach are matters of judicial determination. Austin Lakes Joint Venture v. Avon Utils., Inc., 648 N.E.2d 641, 649 (Ind.1995); Suyemasa v. Myers, 420 N.E.2d 1334, 1339 (Ind.Ct.App.1981). This is not a matter over which administrative bodies generally assume jurisdiction, at least with respect to a freestanding claim. See Austin Lakes, 648 N.E.2d at 650 (finding no legal or factual questions reserved for agency decision making in a breach of contract claim). By dismissing Teachers' complaint in total, the trial court effectively denied Teachers the only forum before which their breach of contract claim against the School Board could be heard and decided. Indeed, sometime after the trial court entered its judgment, Teachers presented their claim to the IEERB, which dismissed it asserting the Complainants have alleged a purely contractual issuethat is, pursuant to which contract is the School Corporation obligated to pay retirement benefits to Complainantsover which IEERB has no jurisdiction. App. to Reply Br. of Appellant at 6 (quoting Order of IEERB Hearing Examiner). We conclude therefore that the trial court erred in dismissing Teachers' claim against the School Board. Rather, this is a claim over which the trial court has jurisdiction. Having determined that Teachers' claim against the Union is a matter for the exclusive jurisdiction of the IEERB, we are confronted here with a case where one of the issues is a matter for administrative determination while the other is a matter for the court to decide. In that instance we invoke the doctrine of primary jurisdiction which: comes into play when a claim is cognizable in a court but adjudication of the claim requires the resolution of issues which, under a regulatory scheme, have been placed within the special competence of [an] administrative body; in such a case, the judicial process is suspended pending referral of such issues to the administrative body for its views. Austin Lakes, 648 N.E.2d at 645 (quoting Hansen v. Norfolk & W. Ry. Co., 689 F.2d 707, 710 (7th Cir.1982)). In Austin Lakes, we set forth the analysis the trial court should undertake when confronted with cases in which its subject matter jurisdiction is contested on grounds of primary jurisdiction or exhaustion of remedies. Id. at 646-49. We also identified various fact patterns under which the issue might arise. Id. For example, under one scheme, where an issue in the case is one that can be decided by either the trial court or by an administrative agency, the decision to invoke the doctrine of primary jurisdiction is within the trial court's discretion. Id. at 647. However, a trial court must invoke the doctrine of primary jurisdiction where one (but less than all) of the issues in the case requires exhaustion of remedies before judicial review can occur. Id. That is precisely the set of facts we have before us. The trial court in this case must determine one of the issues while the other must first be presented to an administrative agency before judicial review may occur. Thus, while the trial court retains jurisdiction over Teachers' contract claim against the School Board, applying the doctrine of primary jurisdiction requires the trial court to suspend any action on the merits until the IEERB renders a final decision on Teachers' claim against the Union.