Civil Service Com'n v. Department of Labor
| Decision Date | 28 March 1986 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 77816 |
| Citation | 384 N.W.2d 728,424 Mich. 571 |
| Parties | CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, et al., Defendants-Appellants. Dennis MATULEWICZ, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. GOVERNOR, et al., Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
Levin, Levin, Garvett and Dill by Erwin B. Ellmann, Jeffrey A. Heldt, Southfield, for plaintiffs-appellees, Dennis Matulewicz, et al.
Warner, Norcross & Judd by Paul T. Sorensen, Richard E. Cassard, William J. Barrett, Grand Rapids, for Civil Service Com'n.
Frank J. Kelley, Atty. Gen., Louis J. Caruso, Sol. Gen., George H. Weller, Asst. Atty. Gen., Lansing, for defendants-appellants.
Women Lawyers Ass'n of Michigan by Lidia Gulawsky, Birmingham, WLAM amicus curiae Co-Chair, for amicus curiae Women Lawyers Ass'n of Michigan.
Miller, Cohen, Martens & Ice, P.C. by Mark H. Cousens, Glenda L. Pittman, Detroit, for amicus curiae Michigan Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO.
Wade H. McCree, Jr., Ann Arbor, for amicus curiae Workers' Compensation Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan.
Levine, Benjamin, Tushman, Bratt, Jerris & Stein, P.C. by Barrie R. Bratt, Lucinda Keils, Detroit, for Michigan Injured Workers and Michigan Trial Lawyers Ass'n.
Jordan Rossen, Gen. Counsel, Ralph O. Jones, Associate Gen. Counsel, Intern. Union, United Auto., Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), Detroit, for amicus curiae.
Sachs, Nunn, Kates, Kadushin, O'Hare, Helveston & Waldman, P.C. by Theodore Sachs, Andrew Nickelhoff, Detroit, Sharon McPhail, President, Wolverine Bar Ass'n, Southfield, Edgar Jerome Dew, Chairperson, Nat. Conference of Black Lawyers (Michigan Chapter), Detroit, for amici curiae.
Dickinson, Wright, Moon, Van Dusen & Freeman, Robert P. Young, Jr., Robert W. Powell, Detroit, for Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce.
The questions presented concern the constitutionality of legislation, 1985 P.A. 103, that removes workers' compensation hearing officers from the state civil service by organizing them in a board.
The constitution provides that the state civil service system consists of "all ... in the state service" other than those specifically excepted or exempted. "[M]embers of boards and commissions" are excepted. 1 Act 103 organizes workers' compensation hearing officers in a "Board of Magistrates". 2
The circuit judge held that the hearing officers are not members of a "proper" board or commission, and that Sec. 213 (establishing the Board of Magistrates) of Act 103 is an unconstitutional attempt to evade the constitutional limitation. This Court granted bypass of the Court of Appeals. We reverse and hold that Sec. 213 of Act 103 is constitutional.
The challenged provisions were enacted in conjunction with a provision of Act 103 that eliminates de novo review by the workers' compensation appellate tribunal (presently the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board), hereafter under Act 103 to be known as the Workers' Compensation Appellate Commission, of decisions of workers' compensation hearing officers (presently the referees), hereafter to be known as magistrates. A magistrate's decision is Cases filed after March 31, 1986, are to be heard by members of the Board of Magistrates. The position of hearing referee is eliminated next year, as of March 31, 1987.
to be considered conclusive by the appellate commission if supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence on the whole record. 3 The Legislature sought thereby to reduce the delay in adjudicating workers' compensation claims, which had been attributed to a large backlog in the WCAB resulting from the appeal of seventy-five to eighty-five percent of referee awards. 4
Act 103 reduces the number of hearing officers from thirty-nine referees 5 to thirty magistrates. 6 The number of members of the appellate tribunal is reduced from fifteen members of the WCAB to seven members of the appellate commission. 7
A qualifications advisory committee, with six members appointed by the Governor, is created to develop a written examination to be administered to applicants for the position of magistrate, to recommend persons for appointment by the Governor to the Board of Magistrates and appellate commission, 8 and to evaluate biannually the performance of magistrates. The committee may recommend suspension or removal. 9
The Governor is empowered to appoint the magistrates and, as before, the members of the appellate tribunal (the appellate commission). 10 The authority of the director of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation The term of office of both members of the Board of Magistrates and of the appellate commission is four years. 12 Civil service system tenure for workers' compensation hearing officers (the referees) is accordingly eliminated. The continuing tenure in office of hearing officers, as well (as before) of members of the appellate tribunal, is subjected to the political process. Additionally, the Governor is barred from reappointing as a member of the board or commission a person who has served for twelve years. 13 The Governor may remove a member for good cause, including lack of productivity or other neglect of duties. 14
to appoint workers' compensation hearing officers 11 is, in effect, eliminated.
A chairperson of the board and a chairperson of the commission are to be appointed by the Governor from among the members who serve in the office of chairperson at the pleasure of the Governor. The chairperson may establish productivity standards that are to be adhered to by the employees and members of the board or commission and has general supervisory control of and is in charge of the employees and the assignment and scheduling of the work of the board or commission. 15 The power of the director of the bureau to assign cases to the hearing officers 16 is thereby eliminated.
The board and commission are both authorized to employ legal assistants for the purpose of legal research and otherwise assisting the individual members and the board and commission. The board and commission are also both authorized to promulgate rules and administrative hearing procedures. 17
Magistrates will be required to file concise written opinions stating reasons for decisions, including findings of fact and conclusions of law. 18 The referees were expected only to state their decision in conclusory terms and ordinarily did so by filling in the blank spaces in a one-page printed-form order.
As before, the hearing officer's decision is final unless appealed 19 and seventy percent of the compensation awarded must be paid to the injured worker or his dependents during the pendency of an appeal to the appellate commission. 20
The hearing officer's decision is reviewable, as before, by a three-member panel of an appellate tribunal, the appellate commission. 21 A panel's decision is reviewable by the entire commission on request of the chairperson if the chairperson concludes that the decision may establish a precedent with regard to workers' compensation in this state, or upon request of two or more members of the commission. 22 Decisions of a panel of the workers' compensation appeal board are the "final decision of the board." 23
The workers' compensation appeal board reviews referee decisions de novo, generally on the record made before the referee, although it is authorized to receive additional As before, on application, not as of right, judicial review is obtainable in the Court of Appeals and this Court. 26 Findings of fact made by the appellate commission, acting within its powers, in the absence of fraud, shall be conclusive. 27
evidence. 24 The findings of fact of a magistrate are to be considered conclusive by the commission if supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence on the whole record, defined as such evidence, considering the whole record, as a reasonable mind will accept as adequate to justify the conclusions. The appellate [424 Mich. 582] commission may authorize the receipt of additional evidence, but it is limited to a review of only those specific findings of fact and conclusions of law that the parties have requested be reviewed. The review is to be both a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the evidence to assure a full, thorough, and fair review. 25
Cases filed after March 31, 1986, and those theretofore filed, not heard by March 31, 1987, are to be heard by the magistrates. The referees will continue to hear cases filed on or before March 31, 1986. The position of hearing referee is abolished as of March 31, 1987. 28 The Workers' Compensation Appeal Board is eliminated as of July 1, 1989, or earlier if there are no more cases to be decided by the appeal board. 29 The Governor may appoint additional members on the appeal board to expedite decision in cases before the board which, in 1984, had a five- to six-year backlog. 30
Included in the legislation are a number of significant substantive and other procedural reforms. The Legislature anticipated that the establishment of the Board of Magistrates, and the consequent elimination of the position of hearing referee and their civil service tenure, would be challenged. It is provided that if the creation of the Board of Magistrates is found to be invalid by this Court, some of the other amendments shall also be invalid and are not severable, while others shall nevertheless be valid and are severable. 31
Act 103, reorganizing the adjudicative function in workers' compensation cases, was based on the recommendations in the report on workers' compensation in Michigan, submitted in December, 1984, by Professor Theodore St. Antoine, the Governor's special counselor on workers' compensation. 32
The author of the report saw no reason for major structural changes at the referee level. The backlog at the referee level was declining, and, with the recent addition of ten additional...
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