Court Opinion

ID: 9691380
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 20:28:06.205109+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:10:20.345628
License: Public Domain

*336SUNDBY, J.
(dissenting). Wisconsin’s Equal Access to Justice Act (WEAJA), secs. 227.485 and 814.245, Stats., applies at the agency level, and at the judicial level upon a petition for review. The department appeals from an award of costs to Sheely upon her petition for review of a decision of a department hearing examiner affirming a determination of the Bureau of Social Security Disability Insurance that she is ineligible for medical assistance under sec. 49.47(4), Stats.
The majority concludes that the trial court erred in awarding her costs under sec. 814.245(3), Stats., because (1) this was not an action by a state agency; (2) sec. 814.245(3) does not allow the court to assess costs against a state agency acting in its "adjudicative” capacity; and (3) this was not a proceeding for judicial review under sec. 227.485(6), Stats.
(1) Action by a State Agency. This is a nonissue because Sheely does not claim that she was the prevailing party in an action by a state agency. Actions by state agencies are included in sec. 814.245(3), Stats., because there are actions, for example, forfeiture actions, which are not preceded by a contested case hearing subject to sec. 227.485(3), Stats. The award of costs in this case was made pursuant to that portion of sec. 814.245(3) which applies to a "proceeding for judicial review under [sec.] 227.485(6).”
(2) Adjudicative Capacity. The WEAJA does not exempt state agencies acting in an "adjudicative” capacity. The majority fashions this exemption out of the state’s sovereign immunity and lack of express statutory authorization in the WEAJA to allow attorney fees and costs to be taxed against a state agency acting in its adjudicative capacity. I accept that *337"[wjaivers of immunity must be 'construed strictly in favor of the sovereign,’ and not 'enlarge[d] beyond what the language requires.’” Ruckelshaus EPA v. Sierra Club, 463 U.S. 680, 685 (1983) (citations omitted). Contrary to the majority, I find express authorization in the WEAJA to authorize the trial court to award costs, including a reasonable attorney fee, against a state agency upon a petition for review of a decision of the agency. Strict construction of a statute does not permit a court to engraft exemptions to the plain language of a statute.
Plainly, sec. 814.245(3), Stats., requires the court to award costs to the prevailing party "in any proceeding for judicial review under [sec.] 227.485(6),” Stats., unless the court finds that the state agency is substantially justified in its position or that special circumstances exist that would make the award unjust. It is profitless to apply a rule of strict construction to sec. 814.245 without examining what is a proceeding for judicial review under sec. 227.485(6). I therefore turn to a consideration of that statute.
(3) Proceeding for Judicial Review Under Sec. 227.485(6), Stats. Section 227.485(6), Stats., provides:
A final decision under sub. (5) is subject to judicial review under s. 227.52. If the individual, small nonprofit corporation or small business is the prevailing party in the proceeding for judicial review, the court shall make the findings applicable under s. 814.245 and, if appropriate, award costs related to that proceeding under s. 814.245, regardless of who petitions for judicial review. In addition, the court on review may modify the order for payment of costs in the final decision under sub. (5).
*338The majority concludes that there are two prerequisites for a proceeding for judicial review under sec. 227.485(6), Stats. First, there must have been a contested case before a hearing examiner in which a state agency was a party. Second, the prevailing party must have moved the hearing examiner for costs.
The majority must believe that sec. 227.485(6), Stats., permits judicial review only of an order for costs and not a decision on the merits. This is the only reading of sec. 227.485(6) which is consistent with the majority’s conclusion. However, that reading is contrary to the plain language of sec. 227.485(6) and the legislative purpose in enacting the WEAJA.
I conclude that a petition for judicial review under sec. 227.485(6), Stats., includes a petition for review of a final decision of an administrative agency which is subject to judicial review under sec. 227.52.
The first sentence of sec. 227.485(6), Stats., is: "A final decision under sub. (5) is subject to judicial review under s. 227.52.” Subsection (5) of sec. 227.485 provides in part: "The decision on the merits of the case shall be placed in a proposed decision and submitted under ss. 227.47 and 227.48.” This is the "final decision” referred to in subsection (6). Section 227.47 provides in part: "Every proposed or final decision of an agency or hearing examiner following a hearing and every final decision of an agency shall be in writing accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions of law.” (Emphasis added.) Section 227.48 provides how such decisions shall be served and filed.
An award of costs under sec. 227.485(3), Stats., is accomplished in the usual way when a statute allows a discretionary award of costs and fees in administrative or judicial proceedings. First, the decision on the merits is placed in a proposed decision and submitted *339under secs. 227.47 and 227.48. The prevailing party may then submit, within thirty days after service of the decision, to the hearing examiner and to the state agency, an itemized application for fees and other expenses, including an itemized statement as to attorney fees. Sec. 227.485(5). The state agency has fifteen working days to respond. Id. The hearing examiner then determines the costs "and include[s] an order for payment of costs in the final decision.” Id. If, as the majority concludes, the only final decision under sec. 227.485(5) is an award of costs, this clause is meaningless.
Thus, a final decision under sub. (5) which is subject to judicial review under sec. 227.52, Stats., is not only the award of costs but is the final decision on the merits under sec. 227.47. This is further borne out by the last sentence of sec. 227.485(6) which provides: "In addition, the court on review may modify the order for payment of costs in the final decision under sub. (5).” (Emphasis added.) If the majority is correct, the reference to the order for payment "in the final decision” is meaningless gibberish.
I agree with the majority that, before a hearing examiner may award costs under sec. 227.485(3), Stats., the state agency must be a party. I do not agree, however, that the trial court may not award fees and costs under sec. 814.245(3), Stats., unless the state agency was a party to the administrative proceedings under ch. 227. If the agency appears in the proceeding for judicial review under sec. 227.485(6), the trial court, if the other requirements of the statute are satisfied, shall award costs and fees against the state agency. The interpretation of the federal EAJA supports this conclusion. The legislature has admonished us that when we interpret the WEAJA we be guided *340by federal case law, as of November 20, 1985, interpreting substantially similar provisions under the federal act, 5 U.S.C. sec. 504. See secs. 227.485(1) and 814.245(1).
The federal EAJA authorizes federal agencies, under 5 U.S.C. sec. 504(a)(1), and courts, under 28 U.S.C. sec. 2412(d)(1)(A), to award attorney fees to parties who prevail against the government in "adversary adjudications.” An "adversary adjudication” is defined as a determination "on the record after opportunity for an agency hearing,” 5 U.S.C. sec. 554(a), with certain inapplicable exceptions, "in which the position of the United States is represented by counsel.” 5 U.S.C. sec. 504(b)(1)(C). Under these provisions it has been held that proceedings before the social security administration are not adversary adjudications and are thus excluded from coverage. See Clifton v. Heckler, 755 F.2d 1138, 1142 (5th Cir. 1985). However, the federal EAJA has been held to apply to actions for judicial review of final decisions of the secretary of the social security administration brought under the social security act. Id. at 1143. The Clifton court said that the legislative history of the federal EAJA supports the proposition that congress intended the act to cover civil actions to review decisions of the secretary. Id. This legislative history is significant in construing the WEAJA because the federal EAJA is "substantially similar” to the WEAJA. I conclude that the trial court shall award fees and costs under sec. 814.245(3), Stats., if the other conditions of the statute are met, if the state agency appears in a proceeding for judicial review under sec. 227.485(6), Stats.
Contrary to the majority’s assertion, the department appeared in this proceeding and was a party. The order of the acting director of the office of *341administrative hearings dated March 31, 1986 denying Sheely’s request for a rehearing states:
This is the final administrative decision of the Department of Health and Social Services. You may appeal this decision to [the] Circuit Court within 30 days of the date of this decision. In an appeal to [the] Circuit Court, the respondent is the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services _(Emphasis added.)
Upon Sheely’s appeal, the department of health and social services filed a notice of appearance by Donald P. Johns, assistant attorney general, and stated its position in which it "respectfully pray[ed] that this court refuse to reverse, vacate or modify upon any of the grounds or for any of the reasons set forth in the petition its decision and order of March 31,1986, and thereby affirm said decision and order.”
There is an overriding canon of statutory construction which compels the conclusion that the WEAJA was intended to require trial courts, if the statutory conditions are satisfied, to award costs and fees against state agencies when they appear in proceedings for judicial review of final decisions of state agencies, as defined in sec. 227,47, Stats. That canon is that a statute should be construed to give effect to its leading idea. State v. Okray Produce Co., Inc., 132 Wis. 2d 145, 150, 389 N.W.2d 825, 827 (Ct. App. 1986). We are admonished that our purpose in construing a statute is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the legislature. State v. Denter, 121 Wis. 2d 118, 122, 357 N.W.2d 555, 557 (1984).
The WEAJA was created by 1985 Wis. Act 52. The analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau states, in part: "This bill provides procedures for awarding a *342more complete recovery of actual costs for individuals and small businesses if they prevail in an administrative contested case proceeding or judicial review of a contested case proceeding, regardless of who initiates the proceeding or review, or in a court action brought by a state agency.” (Emphasis added.)
The enactment of the WEAJA followed the enactment of the federal act, and, as we have seen, the legislature has stated that the federal act contains provisions "substantially similar” to the Wisconsin Act. In Clifton, 755 F.2d at 1142, it is stated: "The EAJA was enacted to lessen the likelihood that challenges to bureaucratic action would be deterred by the high cost of litigating against the government.”1 The WEAJA was enacted for similar reasons.
The majority’s construction of the WEAJA would seriously compromise the legislative purpose in enacting the Act. Its construction of the Act is unreasonable. I reject that construction and dissent.

 The Clifton court suggested that for a thorough discussion of the federal EAJA’s purposes and antecedents, we should see Dods & Kennedy, The Equal Access to Justice Act, 50 UMKC L. Rev. 48 (1981); Robertson & Fowler, Recovering Attorneys’ Fees from the Government Under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 56 Tul. L. Rev. 903 (1982); Note, The Equal Access to Justice Act in the Federal Courts, 84 Colum. L. Rev. 1089 (1984); Comment, The Equal Access to Justice Act: How to Recover Attorney’s Fees and Litigation Expenses from the United States Government, 13 U. Tol. L. Rev. 149 (1981). Clifton, 755 F.2d at 1142 n. 5.