Court Opinion

ID: 9566799
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:43:16.676073+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:41:59.802790
License: Public Domain

CARTER, J.
I dissent. The majority opinion extends the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies far beyond my conception of what the rule should be in view of the lack of uniformity in the rules of procedure applicable to the various administrative agencies established under the law of this state. It seems to me more consonant with principles applicable to procedure before judicial and quasi-judicial tribunals that unless application for a rehearing is made mandatory by statute or rule, such application need not be made as a condition precedent to a review of the decision or order of such tribunal. Such is the rule with respect to proceedings before judicial tribunals. That is, it is not now necessary to make a motion for a new trial in a trial court before prosecuting an appeal from a judgment of that court; neither is it necessary to petition a District Court of Appeal for a rehearing before petitioning the Supreme Court for a hearing after decision rendered by such District Court of Appeal.
The Legislature has by express statutory provision made mandatory a petition for rehearing before a party dissatisfied with the decision of the Railroad Commission (secs. 66-67, Act 6386 Gen. Laws) or Industrial Accident Commission (secs. 5900-5910, Labor Code) may petition the Supreme Court for a review of the decision of either of said commissions. If it were the law that a petition for rehearing were indispensable before such review could be had, the mandatory statutory provisions applicable to the Railroad Commission and Industrial Accident Commission are mere surplusage.
The provision of the State Civil Service Act construed in the majority opinion is subdivision (c) of section 173 and reads as follows:
“(c) Rehearing. Within thirty days from and after receipt by him of a copy of the decision rendered by the board in a proceeding under this section, the employee or the ap*202pointing power may apply for a rehearing by filing with the board a petition in writing therefor. Within thirty days after such filing the board shall cause notice thereof to be served upon the other parties to the proceedings by mailing to each a copy of the petition for rehearing, in the same manner as in this act prescribed for the giving of notice of a hearing. Within sixty days after the service of such notice of the filing of the petition for rehearing, the board shall either grant or deny the petition, and if the petition for rehearing is not granted within said period, it shall be deemed denied. If the petition for a rehearing is granted, the matter shall be set down for hearing by the board, either before the board or before its authorized representative, and such hearing shall be conducted in substantially the same manner and under like rules of procedure as an original hearing upon charges filed under and pursuant to the provisions of this section.” (Emphasis added.)
It should be noted that the statute uses the permissive “may” instead of the mandatory “shall” or “must” in providing that either the employee or the appointing power may petition for a rehearing. It is true that the Civil Service Act does not provide for a judicial review of the decisions of the Personnel Board, but section 52 of the act creates a statute of limitation on actions or proceedings brought to obtain a “legal remedy for wrongs or grievances based on or related to any civil service law in this State or the administration, thereof.” This section provides that no person seeking a legal remedy under this act shall be compensated for the time subsequent to the date when his action or proceeding arose unless such action or proceeding is filed and served within ninety days after the same arose.
In the case at bar petitioners were suspended from their civil service positions by the State Land Commission, the employing body, on August 2, 1938, pending the hearing on the charges against them before the Personnel Board. The decision of the Personnel Board finding the petitioners guilty of the charges was not mailed to petitioners’ counsel until April 8, 1939. The present action was filed in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County on July 15, 1939. Conceding that petitioners could not have commenced their action to obtain a legal remedy for redress of their alleged wrong or grievance until after receiving notice of the decision of the Personnel Board, it appears from a reading of the provision *203above quoted pertaining to rehearings that had they been required to petition for a rehearing before commencing their action it would have been possible for at least 120 days to elapse from the date of the decision of the Personnel Board before such action could be commenced. Obviously, their cause of action arose when the Personnel Board rendered its decision sustaining the charges against them, and had they filed a petition for a rehearing and been required to wait 120 days before commencing their action, it is probable that they would now be met with the contention that their action was commenced too late to enable them to recover compensation for the time subsequent to the date when their cause of action arose.
The obvious purpose of the Legislature in requiring that an action be commenced within ninety days after the cause of action arose to permit the employee to recover compensation for the time subsequent thereto, was to prevent the accumulation of large salary claims for employees who had been illegally suspended or separated from their employment, and to my mind it is highly improbable that it was the intention of the Legislature to require the employee to file a petition for a rehearing with the prospects of not being permitted to commence his action within 120 days after the decision of the Personnel Board. Such interpretation of the statute is to my mind unreasonable and contrary to recognized rules of statutory construction. I could not better state my attitude toward the present statute as applied to this case than in the language of the present Chief Justice of the United States in United States v. Katz, 271 U.S. 354, 357 [46 S.Ct. 513, 70 L.Ed. 986], where he said:
“All laws are to be given a sensible construction; and a literal application of a statute, which would lead to absurd consequences should be avoided whenever a reasonable application can be given to it, consistent with the legislative purpose.”
For the foregoing reasons I am convinced that petitioners were not required to petition for a rehearing before the Personnel Board before commencing their action in the superior court to obtain a review of the decision of said board, and therefore the judgment of dismissal entered on the order of the trial court sustaining a demurrer to their petition without leave to amend on this ground should be reversed.