Maryland Com'n on Human Relations v. Bethlehem Steel Corp.

• Decision Date: 29 March 1983
• Docket Number: No. 25,25
• Citation: 457 A.2d 1146,295 Md. 586
• Parties: MARYLAND COMMISSION ON HUMAN RELATIONS v. BETHLEHEM STEEL CORPORATION.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

Page 586

295 Md. 586

457 A.2d 1146

MARYLAND COMMISSION ON HUMAN RELATIONS v. BETHLEHEM STEEL CORPORATION.

No. 25.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

March 29, 1983.

Risselle Rosenthal Fleisher, Gen. Counsel, Baltimore (Philip L. Marcus, Associate Gen. Counsel, Baltimore, on the brief), for appellant.

Charles J. Wargo, Baltimore, on amicus curiae brief of Llewellyn B. wakeman.

Douglas D. Connah, Jr., Baltimore (Venable, Baetjer & Howard, Baltimore, on the brief), for appellee.

Argued before MURPHY, C.J., and SMITH, ELDRIDGE, COLE, DAVIDSON and RODOWSKY, JJ.

DAVIDSON, Judge.

This case presents a question concerning the doctrine of exhaustion of statutorily prescribed administrative and judicial remedies. More particularly, the question is whether a party may have recourse to a court without exhausting statutorily prescribed administrative proceedings and judicial review if the principal question presented before the agency concerns the interpretation of an agency rule.

On 12 December 1977, Llewellyn Wakeman (Wakeman) filed a complaint with the petitioner, the Maryland Commission on Human Relations (Commission), alleging that the respondent, Bethlehem Steel Corporation (Bethlehem), had illegally discriminated against him by forcing him to retire at the age of 65. ¹ On 16 July 1979, after an investigation, the Commission issued a "Written Finding" that there was "no probable cause" to believe that Bethlehem had engaged in an illegal employment practice and dismissed the complaint. Within 30 days, Wakeman requested that the Commission reconsider its dismissal. This request was made pursuant to the Code of Maryland Regulations 14.03.01.05B that provides that an application for reconsideration "shall be filed within 30 days" of a Commission finding of "no probable cause." ² After Wakeman's application for reconsideration was denied, he appealed to the Baltimore City Court (now Circuit Court for Baltimore City). On 25 June 1980, that Court determined that a Commission finding of "no probable cause" was not a final, appealable order, ³ and dismissed the appeal. ⁴

On 1 July 1980, five days after the trial court's adverse ruling, and almost a year after the Commission's finding of "no probable cause," Wakeman once again requested the Commission to reconsider its dismissal. In a letter dated 15 August 1980, the Executive Director determined that "discretion to reconsider may be inferred from COMAR 14.03.01.05," and granted Wakeman's application for reconsideration of the Commission's finding of "no probable cause." On 2 September 1980, the Commission issued an "Amended Written Finding" that stated that there was "probable cause to believe [Bethlehem] discriminated against [Wakeman] and similarly situated employees...."

On 2 September 1980, before a hearing had been held by a hearing examiner, Bethlehem, pursuant to Maryland Rules, Chapter 1100, Subtitle K Certiorari, Rules K41 through K48, filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the Baltimore City Court. In its petition, Bethlehem alleged, among other things, that the Commission had violated its rules and exceeded its jurisdiction by granting an application for reconsideration filed more than 30 days after its initial finding of "no probable cause." The Commission sought dismissal on the grounds, among others, that Bethlehem had not exhausted its statutorily prescribed administrative and judicial remedies.

On 9 April 1981, the trial court issued a writ of certiorari to the Commission to "review [the Commission's] jurisdiction to hold further proceedings" in the administrative proceeding against Bethlehem. In addition, the trial court ordered the Commission to "hold no further proceedings in the matter pending [the trial court's] review."

The Commission appealed to the Court of Special Appeals. ⁵ That Court determined that the trial court "did not rule on the jurisdictional questions but only on the procedural one of whether to issue the writ under K 47." ⁶ That Court further found that the issue before it was "not the jurisdiction of the Baltimore City Court but whether that court abused its discretion in issuing the Writ of Certiorari in this case." That Court held "that the issuance of the writ is authorized by the K Rules and that the lower court did not abuse its discretion." The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court. Maryland Commission on Human Relations v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 50 Md.App. 647, 439 A.2d 1124 (1982).

The Commission filed a petition for a writ of certiorari that we granted. For reasons we shall later explain, we shall reverse the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals without considering the questions that that Court determined.

Maryland Code, Art. 49B, §§ 10 and 11 establish that if the Commission's staff finds probable cause to believe that a discriminatory act or acts have been committed, and if no agreement is reached for the elimination of the alleged discriminatory acts, a case is to be set for a hearing before a hearing examiner who is to render a decision. ⁷ Article 49B § 3(d) establishes that a party affected by a hearing examiner's decision may appeal to an "appellate panel of commissioners." ⁸ Finally, Art. 49B, § 12(a) and Art. 41, § 255(a) establish that either the Commission or an aggrieved party may file an action for judicial review. ⁹ Maryland Comm'n on Human Relations v. Mass Transit Admin., 294 Md. 225, 230, 449 A.2d 385, 387 (1982).

Here, Bethlehem's recourse to the trial court precluded Wakeman's complaint of discrimination from being heard by a hearing examiner. As a result, the statutorily prescribed administrative and judicial remedies were not exhausted.

This Court has firmly adhered to the principle that statutorily prescribed administrative and judicial remedies must ordinarily be pursued and exhausted. This principle is not only a requirement of our case law, it is a policy embodied in various enactments of the General Assembly. Although this Court has recognized a few limited exceptions to the exhaustion doctrine, it has consistently reiterated that statutorily prescribed administrative and judicial remedies ordinarily must be exhausted if the question presented before an agency concerns the interpretation of a statute. Mass Transit Admin., 294 Md. at 230-32, 449 A.2d at 387-88; Soley v. State of Maryland Comm'n on Human Relations, 277 Md. 521, 527-28, 356 A.2d 254, 258 (1976). Thus, in Maryland Commission on Human Relations v. Mass Transit Administration, 294 Md. 225, 449 A.2d 385 (1982), we said:

"This Court has consistently held that statutorily prescribed administrative and judicial review remedies must be exhausted in cases involving the interpretation of statutory language. Moreover, to hold that the existence of a statutory interpretation issue furnishes an excuse to abort the administrative proceedings before a final agency decision, would also be inconsistent with the principle that the agency's construction of a statute which it administers is entitled to weight." Mass Transit Admin., 294 Md. at 233, 449 A.2d at 389 (citations omitted) (emphasis added).

There is no reason why the principle that statutorily prescribed administrative and judicial remedies must be exhausted should not apply if the principal question presented before an agency concerns the interpretation of an agency rule. This Court has recognized that the interpretation of an agency rule is governed by the same principles that govern the interpretation of a statute. See, e.g., Dorsey v. Beads, 288 Md. 161, 176, 416 A.2d 739, 747 (1980); Messitte v. Colonial Mortgage Serv. Co. Assocs., Inc., 287 Md. 289, 293, 411 A.2d 1051, 1053 (1980). More important, agency rules are designed to serve the specific needs of the agency, are promulgated by the agency, and are utilized on a day-to-day basis by the agency. A question concerning the interpretation of an agency's rule is as central to its operation as an interpretation of the agency's governing statute. Because an agency is best able to discern its intent in promulgating a regulation, the agency's expertise is more pertinent to the interpretation of an agency's rule than to the interpretation of its governing statute. Finally, to hold that the existence of an issue of interpretation of an agency rule furnishes an excuse to abort the administrative proceedings before a final agency decision, would be inconsistent with the principle that the agency's construction of its rule is entitled to weight. See, e.g., United States v. Larionoff, 431 U.S. 864, 872, 97 S.Ct. 2150, 2155, 53 L.Ed.2d 48 (1977) (controlling weight unless plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation); Rose v. Commercial Fisheries Entry Comm'n, 647 P.2d 154, 161 (Alaska 1982) (deference); Van Pelt v. State Bd. for Community Colleges & Occupational Educ., 195 Colo. 316, 323, 577 P.2d 765, 770 (1978) (great weight); Walters v. Petrolane-Northeast Gas Serv., Inc., 425 A.2d 968, 972 (Me.1981) (great weight); Purity Supreme, Inc. v. Attorney General, 380 Mass. 762, 1980 Mass.Adv.Sh. 1349, 407 N.E.2d 297, 310 (1980) (deference); Colburn v. Personnel Comm'n, 118 N.H. 60, 63-64, 382 A.2d 907, 909 (1978) (binding); Matter of Roosevelt Hosp. v. New York State Labor Relations Bd., 27 N.Y.2d 25, 34, 261 N.E.2d 378, 381, 313 N.Y.S.2d 369, 374 (1970) (controlling weight); Bell v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 641 P.2d 1115, 1121-22 (Okl.1982) (controlling weight); Concerned Parents of Stepchildren v. Mitchell, 645 P.2d 629, 633 (Utah 1982) (deference); In re Brooks, 130 Vt. 83, 85-86, 286 A.2d 279, 281 (1971) (great weight); Washington State Liquor Control Bd. v. Washington State Personnel Bd., 88 Wash.2d 368, 379, 561 P.2d 195, 201 (1977) (great weight); Beal v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n of Madison, 90 Wis.2d 171, 183, 279 N.W.2d 693, 698 (1979) (controlling weight). Accordingly, we now hold that in cases involving the interpretation of an agency rule, as in cases involving the...