Indiana Educ. Employment Relations Bd. v. Board of School Trustees of Baugo Community Schools, 3-976A205
| Court | Court of Appeals of Indiana |
| Citation | 377 N.E.2d 414,176 Ind.App. 680 |
| Docket Number | No. 3-976A205,3-976A205 |
| Parties | , 99 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2306 INDIANA EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD, Franklin K. Dewald, as Chairman of the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board, and Sharon Poyser, Sarah Borgman, Appellants (Respondents below), v. The BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES OF BAUGO COMMUNITY SCHOOLS, Appellee (Petitioner below). |
| Decision Date | 22 June 1978 |
Page 414
Dewald, as Chairman of the Indiana Education
Employment Relations Board, and Sharon
Poyser, Sarah Borgman,
Appellants (Respondents below),
v.
The BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES OF BAUGO COMMUNITY SCHOOLS,
Appellee (Petitioner below).
Page 415
Theodore L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., Arthur Thaddeus Perry, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for Indiana Education Employment Relations Board.
Richard J. Darko, Bingham, Summers, Welsh & Spilman, Indianapolis, Gary Boyn, Church, Meteiver, Warrick & Weaver, Elkhart, for Sharon Poyser.
[176 Ind.App. 681] Kendall C. Crook, Bose, McKinney & Evans, Indianapolis, A. J. Spahn, Bontrager, Spahn, Atwater & Arko, Elkhart, for appellee.
STATON, Judge.
Sharon Poyser was untenured and was in her fourth year of teaching third grade for Baugo Community Schools when she was discharged. Poyser filed a grievance 1 against the Board of School Trustees in which she alleged that she had been terminated because of her affiliation and support of a teacher's negotiation group, the Baugo Education Association (BEA).
Her complaint was heard 2 by a hearing member and reviewed by the full board of the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board (IEERB). IEERB found that the Baugo School Board had engaged in unfair practices; IEERB ordered Poyser reinstated. Upon judicial review in Elkhart Superior Court No. 2, IEERB's decision was reversed. Poyser and IEERB appeal.
Among several issues raised, one issue is dispositive of our decision to reverse:
(1) Did the trial court apply an erroneous standard of review and exceed the statutory limits of judicial review of administrative agency decisions, as defined in the Administrative Adjudication Act?
We conclude that the trial court employed an improper standard of review. The judgment is reversed and remanded.
I.
Standard of Review
Within the Elkhart Superior Court's findings was the following statement:
"None of the findings of fact (of the IEERB) are based on any positive evidence that the decision of the School Board not to rehire Sharon [176 Ind.App. 682] Poyser was
Page 416
motivated by an intent to discriminate against her by reason of her activities in the BEA. . . ." (Emphasis added.)Poyser and the IEERB assert, on appeal, that this statement, as well as other findings of the trial court, demonstrate that the court erroneously weighed the evidence on its review, and, in effect, tried the cause de novo. We agree.
Under the Administrative Adjudication Act, IC 1971, 4-22-1-8, Ind.Ann.Stat. § 63-3008 (Burns Code Ed.), a standard of proof is outlined: the agency's determination must be supported by substantial, reliable, and probative evidence. IC 1971, 4-22-1-18, Ind.Ann.Stat. § 63-3018 (Burns Code Ed.) is explicit regarding review:
"Judicial review Procedure. On such judicial review such court shall not try or determine said cause de novo, but the facts shall be considered and determined exclusively upon the record filed with said court pursuant to this act (4-22-1-1 4-22-1-30).
"On such judicial review, if the agency has complied with the procedural requirements of...
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