Hill v. Bechtel

Decision Date07 July 1992
Docket NumberNo. 9018SC1242,9018SC1242
Citation417 S.E.2d 844,106 N.C.App. 675
PartiesPenny Lynn HILL, for herself and on Behalf of all other persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Louis BECHTEL, in his official capacity as Director of the Guilford County Department of Social Services, and John Hamrick, in his official capacity as Chairman of the Board of the Department of Social Services of Guilford County, a corporation, and the N.C. Department of Human Resources, Defendants-Appellees.
CourtNorth Carolina Court of Appeals

Central Carolina Legal Services by Stanley B. Sprague and Sorien K. Schmidt, Greensboro, for plaintiffs appellants.

County Attorney Jonathan V. Maxwell and Deputy County Atty. Lynne G. Schiftan, Greensboro, for Louis Bechtel and John Hamrick, defendants appellees.

Atty. Gen. Lacy H. Thornburg by Asst. Atty. Gen. Robert J. Blum, Raleigh, for North Carolina Dept. of Human Resources, respondent appellee.

COZORT, Judge.

On 18 April 1990, plaintiff Penny Lynn Hill applied for food stamps at the High Point office of the Guilford County Department of Social Services ("DSS"). Ms. Hill stated in her application that she had no property and only $3.00 cash on hand, that her only source of income was $50.00 per week child support paid to her by her estranged husband, and that her monthly apartment rent was $139.00 per month.

The food stamp worker determined that plaintiff was eligible for food stamps and began the processing of plaintiff's application through regular channels. Processing is usually completed within 25 days. The food stamp worker screened the application to determine whether plaintiff was eligible for expedited service, which would reduce processing time to five days. The worker did not inform plaintiff, either orally or in writing, that she had been screened for expedited servicing and was deemed ineligible for the accelerated process.

On 7 May 1990, plaintiff filed a suit against the Director of the Guilford County DSS and the Chairman of the Board of the DSS of Guilford County. Plaintiff requested an injunction directing defendants to process plaintiff's application immediately. She also requested an injunction directing defendants to establish policies to send written notices to all food stamp applicants who are denied expedited processing. She further asked that the action be treated as a class action.

The next day plaintiff requested and received a conference at the DSS. She provided additional information to the agency about her food stamp application, notifying the agency that the $50.00 per week child support referred to in her application was the amount ordered by the court; her estranged husband seldom paid her. Based on this additional information, the agency determined that plaintiff was entitled to expedited processing. Plaintiff began receiving food stamps on 10 May 1990.

On 22 June 1990, plaintiff amended her complaint to add the North Carolina Department of Human Resources as a defendant. After responsive pleadings were filed by all defendants, plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment on 29 August 1990 and, on 5 September 1990, a motion to certify the class of plaintiffs. Defendants moved to dismiss the action. All motions came on for hearing at the 1 October 1990 Session of Guilford County Superior Court. After considering affidavits and other discovery matters, the trial court treated defendants' motions to dismiss as motions for summary judgment and granted summary judgment for all defendants, dismissing the action in its entirety. Plaintiffs appeal. For reasons which follow, we reverse.

In urging us to overturn the trial court's decision, plaintiff argues: (1) the food stamp worker's determination that plaintiff was ineligible for expedited processing constituted a "denial" of expedited processing; (2) federal regulations "imply" written notification of a denial of expedited processing and the right to an agency hearing; (3) "due process" requires notification of the right to an agency conference in this case; and (4) the trial court should have certified the class action. We agree with plaintiff's first two contentions.

The applicable federal regulations are found at 7 C.F.R. § 273 (1992). These regulations specifically detail each state's duty in complying with the Federal Food Stamp Act of 1964. Section 273.15(a) provides:

(a) Availability of hearings. Except as provided in § 271.7(f), each State agency shall provide a fair hearing to any household aggrieved by any action of the State agency which affects the participation of the household in the Program.

Section 273.15(d) provides:

(d) Agency conferences. (1) The State agency shall offer agency conferences to households which wish to contest a denial of expedited service under the procedures in § 273.2(i). The State agency may also offer agency conferences to households adversely affected by an agency action. The State agency shall advise households that use of an agency conference is optional and that it shall in no way delay or replace the fair hearing process. The agency conferences may be attended by the eligibility supervisor and/or the agency director, and by the household and/or its representative. An agency conference may lead to an informal resolution of the dispute. However, a fair hearing must still be held unless the household makes a written withdrawal of its request for a hearing.

(2) An agency conference for households contesting a denial of expedited service shall be scheduled within 2 working days, unless the household requests that it be scheduled later or states that it does not wish to have an agency conference.

* * * * * *

Section 273.15(f) states:

(f) Notification of right to request hearing. At the time of application, each household shall be informed in writing of its right to a hearing, of the method by which a hearing may be requested, and that its case may be presented by a household member or a representative, such as a legal counsel, a relative, a friend or other spokesperson. In addition, at any time the household expresses to the State agency that it disagrees with a State agency action, it shall be reminded of the right to request a fair hearing. If there is an individual or organization available that provides free legal representation, the household shall also be informed of the availability of that service.

Plaintiff concedes that these regulations do not expressly provide that the State must notify an applicant that he or she has been denied expedited processing. Plaintiff asks the court to "imply" that such a notice requirement exists and cites Harley v. Lyng, 653 F.Supp. 266 (E.D.Pa.1986). We find the reasoning in Harley applicable here. In Harley, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare ("DPW") had responded to large numbers of applications for food stamps by setting a maximum number of applications which would be considered in a day, setting arbitrary cut-off times, requiring prearranged appointments, requiring some applicants to take applications home and mail them in, and a host of other practices which denied applicants' rights to food stamps and to expedited processing. Id. at 270-72. To remedy these problems, the court ordered, among other things, that the DPW must ensure that

food stamp applicants are advised when they are denied expedited issuance, to allow applicants to decide whether they wish to request an informal agency conference, an administrative fair hearing, or both, and food stamp offices offer to hold informal agency conferences within two (2) working days with supervisory staff and applicants where applicants wish to contest the denial of expedited issuance. (7 C.F.R. 273.15(d).)

Id. at 282.

We find the court's reasoning in Harley persuasive. All the evidence below indicates that the regulations were technically followed and that...

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