Court Opinion

ID: 9514958
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:52:45.487665+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:23.276774
License: Public Domain

SABERS, Justice
(dissenting).
[¶ 23.] I disagree with the majority decision. This Court’s majority should have accepted the circuit court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law in McElhaney I, and its failure to do so has left McElhaney without a viable remedy.
[¶ 24.] In McElhaney I, the majority ordered the writ because McElhaney “failed to exhaust his administrative remedies,” which was the exact argument made by the City on appeal. However, as soon as McElhaney attempted to exhaust his administrative “remedy,” he was thwarted by the City’s argument and the Department’s finding that the City’s Procedural Manual did not apply to him. This finding deprived him of the remedy that the majority required him to exhaust in McElha-ney I.
[¶ 25.] The majority misconstrues the meaning of the word remedy. I agree that McElhaney had no guarantee of relief in pursuing the administrative hearing. However, “remedy” implies that he should have at least had the opportunity to address his grievance before being thrown out of court. As the majority notes at ¶ 16, “the term remedy ... refers to the procedures available to McElhaney to seek relief.” (emphasis supplied). The finding that the Policy Manual did not apply to him removed the only procedure available to him to seek relief after the decision in McElhaney I.
[¶ 26.] McElhaney I stressed the importance of conserving judicial resources. But the ultimate result in this case is that judicial resources have been wasted and the claimant has been denied any remedy for his grievance. He has not had the *447merits of his claim addressed despite the fact that he has been to both the circuit court and this Court on two occasions. This waste of resources could and should have been avoided by accepting the circuit court’s findings and conclusions in McEl-haney I and allowing him an avenue to redress his grievance.