FIRST JUD. DIST. v. HUMAN REL. COM'N
| Decision Date | 23 April 1999 |
| Citation | 727 A.2d 1110,556 Pa. 258 |
| Parties | FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, Appellee, v. The PENNSYLVANIA HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION, Appellant. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
Elisabeth S. Shuster, Manheim, Pamella Darville, Philadelphia, for PA Human Relations Com'n.
David Donaldson, A. Taylor Williams, Philadelphia, for First Judicial Dist. of PA.
Paul J. Hetznecker, for Christine M. Harkins-Hosay (Complainant).
Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN and SAYLOR, JJ.
This case was initiated by the filing of a complaint alleging sexual harassment with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (the commission) against the First Judicial District Adult Probation Department (the appellee). The complainant, an employee of the appellee, alleged that she was sexually harassed by a co-worker, and that the perpetrator was suspended for thirty days and assigned to a different location. This did not resolve the matter to the complainant's satisfaction, however, because, as she further alleged in her complaint, it was unclear whether the suspension and reassignment were related to the alleged sexual harassment and because the appellee failed to "clearly condemn" the actions alleged.
The appellee filed a motion to dismiss the complaint before the commission for lack of jurisdiction under the separation of powers doctrine and recent caselaw. The complainant responded by stating that "what she [seeks] through policy changes is a system that would reprimand, discipline and/or mandate dismissal in cases of sexual harassment where it is warranted." R.R. at 19.
The commission issued an interlocutory order which ruled that it had jurisdiction over the judiciary in this case. Upon request of the appellee, the commission amended its order to allow for an interlocutory appeal by permission.
The Commonwealth Court granted the appellee's request to appeal by permission. The Commonwealth Court noted that although it had earlier held in County of Allegheny v. Wilcox, 76 Pa.Cmwlth. 584, 465 A.2d 47 (1983), that the commission was authorized to require a court to implement certain terms and conditions of employment, the commission was without jurisdiction when the matters complained of involved the supervisory powers of the judiciary. In those cases, the Commonwealth Court stated, "it has been consistently held that the separation of powers doctrine deprives the Commission of jurisdiction to hear the merits of the underlying complaint." First Judicial District v. PHRC, 702 A.2d 592, 593 (Pa.Cmwlth. 1997), citing County of Allegheny v. Wilcox, 76 Pa.Cmwlth. 584, 465 A.2d 47 (1983), appeal dismissed, 507 Pa. 66, 488 A.2d 277 (1985). The Commonwealth Court went on to observe that "when a complainant requests the Commission to direct the judiciary to institute a policy regarding a hostile work environment and addressing the discipline imposed for sexual harassment in the workplace, the remedy sought implicates the supervisory function of the judiciary." Id. The Commonwealth Court held, therefore, that the commission was without jurisdiction to hear the merits of the complaint.
We granted the commission's petition for allowance of appeal in order to resolve the question of whether the commission has jurisdiction to investigate and adjudicate complaints filed against the judicial branch of government.
The main thrust of the commission's argument is that its jurisdiction is properly tested by whether it has authority to enter upon the inquiry, not whether it is able to grant relief; that it has statutory authority to decide questions of its own jurisdiction; and that it has statutory authority to investigate and remedy employment matters not related to the hiring, firing and discipline of court employees.
The appellee's argument, in essence, is that the separation of powers doctrine precludes the commission's investigation and determination of jurisdiction.
The Pennsylvania Constitution provides:
The Supreme Court shall have the power to prescribe general rules governing practice, procedure and the conduct of all courts, justices of the peace and all officers serving process or enforcing orders, judgments or decrees of any court or justice of the peace, including the power to provide for assignment and reassignment of classes of actions or classes of appeals among the several courts as the needs of justice shall require, and for admission to the bar and to practice law, and the administration of all courts and supervision of all officers of the Judicial Branch, if such rules are consistent with this Constitution and neither abridge, enlarge nor modify the substantive rights of any litigant, nor affect the right of the General Assembly to determine the jurisdiction of any court or justice of the peace, nor suspend nor alter any statute of limitation or repose. All laws shall be suspended to the extent that they are inconsistent with rules prescribed under these provisions.
Art. V, Section 10(c). In pertinent part, this provision grants the supreme court "the power ... to provide for ... the administration of all courts and supervision of all officers of the judicial branch."
The commission was established by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, 43 Pa. Stat. §§ 951-963, within the Governor's Office. Among its purposes are receiving complaints which allege violations of the Human Relations Act, investigating those complaints, formulating remedies in the event probable cause to credit the allegations of the complaint is determined, conducting hearings, and enforcing its orders.
The purpose of the commission's involvement in this case, as stated in the complaint itself, is to investigate the appellee's handling of the alleged misconduct and to impose a policy change which would affect all employees of the court. But whether or not the commission...
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