Court Opinion

ID: 9710137
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:02:55.329462+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:54.504104
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA,
Justice, dissenting.
I dissent. The majority apparently holds that the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act may not constitutionally be applied to the judiciary as an employer in any circumstance. This result is said to be necessary to protect the independence of the judicial branch, specifically the power to hire, fire, and supervise court personnel. In my view this ruling sweeps far too broadly.
Consistent with the presumption that the General Assembly does not intend to violate the federal or state constitution, 1 Pa.C.S. § 1922(3), the Court should undertake to construe a statute so as to sustain its validity if at all possible. See Hughes v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, 514 Pa. 300, 523 A.2d 747 (1987); Tracy v. County of Chester, Tax Claim Bureau, 507 Pa. 288, 489 A.2d 1334 (1985). At *11least two such interpretations are readily apparent in this case. First, the Act could be held applicable to the actions of all personnel of the court system except judges. Second, the Act could be construed to violate the separation of powers only to the extent that a remedy (e.g., reinstatement) would arguably impinge on the power to hire, fire, and supervise court personnel.
In failing to explicitly overrule County of Allegheny v. Wilcox, 76 Pa.Cmwlth. 584, 465 A.2d 47 (1983), the majority exposes the weakness of its analysis. If the Commission may not constitutionally exercise jurisdiction over the judiciary, then Wilcox was wrongly decided and must be overruled. It cannot be distinguished on the grounds that the remedy ordered by the Commission in that case “did not direct the court to hire or fire anyone and thus did not encroach upon the court’s independence.” Opinion at 1248. On the other hand, if Wilcox is not overruled, then the majority implicitly concedes that to some extent the Commission does have jurisdiction to review complaints involving the courts as employers. The question then becomes to what extent the constitutionally based separation of powers doctrine imposes limitations on that jurisdiction. The answer to this question depends on the circumstances of each case, but the presumption must be in favor of applying the Act unless to do so would clearly, palpably, and plainly violate the constitution. The burden of proof is on the party asserting that the Act may not constitutionally be applied, and on the present record I would not find that burden met so as to require dismissal of the complaint.