Health Management, Inc. v. Lindell

• Decision Date: 17 December 1999
• Docket Number: No. 26010.,26010.
• Citation: 207 W.Va. 68,528 S.E.2d 762
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: HEALTH MANAGEMENT, INC., Plaintiff Below, Appellee, v. Norman LINDELL, in his capacity as Acting Director of the West Virginia Human Rights Commission, Defendant Below, Appellant.

528 S.E.2d 762

207 W.Va. 68

HEALTH MANAGEMENT, INC., Plaintiff Below, Appellee, v. Norman LINDELL, in his capacity as Acting Director of the West Virginia Human Rights Commission, Defendant Below, Appellant.

No. 26010.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted September 21, 1999.

Decided December 17, 1999.

Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., Attorney General, John T. McFerrin, Assistant Attorney General, Janie O'Neal Peyton, Assistant Attorney General, Charleston, West Virginia, Attorneys for Appellant.

Theodore R. Dues, Jr., Esq., Charleston, West Virginia, Attorney for Appellee.

McGRAW, Justice:

The West Virginia Human Rights Commission (the "Commission") appeals the circuit court's issuance of a writ of prohibition preventing it from taking further action against appellee Health Management, Inc. ("HMI"), which was charged with discriminating against a nursing-home supervisor on the basis of gender. During the Commission's initial investigation, HMI asserted (with supporting documentary evidence) that it had fewer than twelve employees, and thus fell outside of the Commission's jurisdiction under W. Va.Code § 5-11-3(d) (1998). When HMI later refused to respond to a subpoena issued by the Commission seeking additional information relevant to determining whether HMI and the separately-owned nursing homes it manages are part of an "integrated enterprise" for purposes of jurisdiction, the Commission, in its probable cause determination, made an adverse inference regarding HMI's jurisdictional defense based upon its failure to respond to the subpoena. HMI subsequently petitioned the Circuit Court of Kanawha County for a writ of prohibition to prevent the Commission from taking further action on the administrative complaint. The circuit court granted the requested relief, finding as a matter of fact that HMI did not have the requisite number of employees necessary to subject it the Commission's jurisdiction.

The Commission contends, inter alia, that in granting the writ of prohibition the circuit court inappropriately resolved disputed issues of fact that should have been left for its determination. We find merit in this argument, and accordingly reverse the circuit court's action.

I. BACKGROUND

The complainant in this case, Marrianne Blakeslee, filed her initial complaint with the Commission on January 12, 1994, alleging that HMI discriminated against her on the basis of gender by failing to award her a promotion. Ms. Blakeslee claimed that when she was hired as the director of nursing at the White Sulphur Springs Family Care Center in April 1992, she was promised that she would eventually be promoted to the position of administrator of that facility when the current administrator retired. She further alleged that when that post later became vacant, a lesser qualified male applicant was given the position.

On February 21, 1994, counsel for HMI filed a motion with the Commission seeking dismissal of the complaint, asserting that the Commission did not have jurisdiction over it pursuant to W. Va.Code § 5-11-3(d),¹ because it had never had twelve or more employees at any time since its incorporation in 1991. To support this contention, a schedule was attached to the motion purportedly indicating the date of hire and date of separation for each employee ever employed by the firm. The Commission responded, in a letter from its then-Acting Director dated March 30, 1994, informing HMI that its motion was "premature," and requesting additional information concerning its relationship with the nursing home facilities it manages.

Ms. Blakeslee filed a second complaint on May 23, 1994, further alleging that she was terminated in reprisal for opposing HMI's discriminatory practices. On August 1, 1994, HMI's counsel filed a second motion to dismiss, setting forth the same grounds for summary dismissal as contained in its first motion. The Commission subsequently issued a subpoena duces tecum pursuant to W. Va.Code § 5-11-8(d)(1) (1998) on September 23, 1994, seeking certain documents relative to the complainant's underlying discrimination and reprisal claims.

HMI responded by filing a petition for writ of prohibition in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County (Civil Action No. 94-MISC-776) on October 5, 1994, seeking to prevent the Commission from taking further action on Ms. Blakeslee's complaints. In support of its claim, HMI attached to its petition, among other documentary evidence, quarterly wage reports submitted to the West Virginia Bureau of Employment Programs indicating that HMI employed fewer than the twelve employees required to meet the statutory definition of "employer" under § 5-11-3(d). This action was later voluntarily dismissed on March 29, 1995, based upon an agreement between the parties concerning disposition of HMI's jurisdictional defense.

A disagreement subsequently ensued regarding the terms of that oral agreement, with HMI, on the one hand, contending that the Commission had agreed to limits its initial inquiry to the issue of jurisdiction, and the Commission, on the other hand, asserting that the jurisdictional question would be resolved in the course of the broader investigation. The Commission in May 1995 requested that HMI provide the information requested by its first subpoena; and then, on April 26, 1996, it issued a second subpoena, requesting additional information related to HMI's relationship with the nursing home facilities with which it contracts to provide management services.² The matter came to a head in June 1998, when the Commission issued its probable cause determination, which was based, in part, upon the following finding:

The Respondent denies the Complainant's charge of sex discrimination and reprisal. However, Respondent refuses to supply any information to form any defense. Since this complaint has been filed, the Respondent has resisted this Agency's every attempt to investigate it.

The Commission subsequently explained that it made an adverse inference on the issue of jurisdiction pursuant to 77 W. Va.C.S.R. § 2-4.6 (1998),³ based upon HMI's failure to answer its subpoena.

HMI filed the present action on June 23, 1998, again seeking a writ of prohibition to prevent the Commission from acting on Ms. Blakeslee's administrative complaints. In proceedings before the circuit court, the Commission asserted that its investigation uncovered conflicting evidence concerning the jurisdictional status of HMI. Specifically, the Commission represented that Ms. Blakeslee had informed investigators that she was responsible for a staff of over forty nurses. Also, it stated that while Ms. Blakeslee was furnished with certain documents indicating that HMI was her employer, wage-report filings submitted by HMI to various state and federal agencies did not list her as an employee. Thus, as the Commission explained to the circuit court, it was reasonable for the agency to infer that HMI had employees that were not referenced in its wage reports. The Commission further claimed that based upon its own information and HMI's refusal to supply it with information regarding its relationship with the nursing homes it manages, it was reasonable to infer that HMI was subject to its jurisdiction based upon the theory that it, together with the nursing homes, form a "single employer" or "integrated enterprise."⁴

The circuit court granted prohibition relief on November 5, 1998. Among its findings and conclusions, the circuit court found as a matter of fact

that petitioner did not have twelve (12) or more employees during the relevant period complained of by Blakeslee and therefore is not an "employer" within the definition of the same as prescribed by the West Virginia Human Rights Act. W. Va.Code 5-11-3[](d) et seq., as amended.

It is from this order that the Commission now appeals.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The present appeal involves a challenge to the circuit court's ruling granting a writ of prohibition. We therefore undertake de novo to determine whether the prerequisites for such relief were satisfied in proceedings below. See Syl. pt. 1, Martin v. West Virginia Div. of Labor Contractor Licensing Bd., 199 W.Va. 613, 486 S.E.2d 782 (1997) ("The standard of appellate review of a circuit court's order granting relief through the extraordinary writ of prohibition is de novo.").

III. DISCUSSION

There is no dispute in this case as to whether writs of prohibition may be employed to restrain quasi-judicial administrative bodies from adjudicating matters outside of their jurisdiction. Prohibition has been the customary remedy to "restrain inferior courts from proceeding in causes over which they have no jurisdiction," Syl. pt. 1, in part, Crawford v. Taylor, 138 W.Va. 207, 75 S.E.2d 370 (1953),⁵ and we have further recognized that "prohibition lies to restrain both judicial and quasi-judicial administrative bodies," Cowie v. Roberts, 173 W.Va. 64, 67, 312 S.E.2d 35, 38 (1984). Rather, the issue here goes to the conditions that must be satisfied by a petitioner who seeks a writ of prohibition to preclude an administrative tribunal from overstepping its jurisdictional authority.

We have previously cautioned that writs of prohibition provide a drastic remedy, and should be invoked only in extraordinary situations. See State ex rel. Frazier v. Hrko, 203 W.Va. 652, 657, 510 S.E.2d 486, 491 (1998)

(citing State ex rel. Allen v. Bedell, 193 W.Va. 32, 36, 454 S.E.2d 77, 81 (1994) (Cleckley, J., concurring)). As a consequence, the prohibition remedy is tightly circumscribed.

To obtain relief in prohibition on the ground that a tribunal is acting outside of its jurisdiction, the petitioner must clearly demonstrate that it lacks authority to adjudicate a particular matter before it: "A writ of prohibition does not lie in the absence of a clear showing that a trial court is without jurisdiction to hear and determine a proceeding...." Syl. pt. 1, in part, Fahey v. Brennan, 136 W.Va. 666, 68 S.E.2d 1...