Samaritan Institute v. Prince-Walker

• Citation: 883 P.2d 3
• Decision Date: 11 October 1994
• Docket Number: R,No. 93SC705,PRINCE-WALKE,93SC705
• Parties: SAMARITAN INSTITUTE, Petitioner, v. Tina L.espondent.
• Court: Supreme Court of Colorado

Page 3

883 P.2d 3

SAMARITAN INSTITUTE, Petitioner, v. Tina L. PRINCE-WALKER, Respondent.

No. 93SC705.

Supreme Court of Colorado,

En Banc.

Oct. 11, 1994.

Coan & Collyar, Daniel J. Collyar, Denver, for petitioner.

Waltz, D'Antuono, Correll & Anderson, Tim Correll, Denver, for respondent.

Justice ERICKSON delivered the Opinion of the Court.

We granted certiorari to review Prince-Walker v. Industrial Claim App. Office, 870 P.2d 588 (Colo.App.1993), and to resolve two questions:

1. Whether the court of appeals properly interpreted the phrase "operated primarily for religious purposes," in section 8-70-140(1)(a), 3B C.R.S. (1993 Supp.)....

2. Whether the court of appeals erred in holding that the Industrial Claim Appeals Panel (Panel) exceeded its authority by improperly substituting its evidentiary findings for those of the referee.

Our answer to the first question is yes. Our answer to the second question is no. Accordingly we affirm the judgment entered by the court of appeals.

I

Tina Prince-Walker (Walker) was employed by the Samaritan Institute (Institute) from September 1989 to May 1991, when she was discharged. She worked for the Institute in several different job classifications and last worked as a part-time executive assistant. She filed a claim for unemployment compensation benefits with the Colorado Division of Employment and Training (Division) after she was discharged.

During her tenure with the Institute, Walker was paid wages for "employment" as defined in the Colorado Employment Security Act (Act), §§ 8-70-101 to -106, 3B C.R.S. (1986). Wages paid to an employee generally provide the basis for determining the benefits to be paid. § 8-73-102, 3B C.R.S. (1986) (subject to other conditions, benefits are determined as a percentage of "wages paid for insured work"); § 8-70-103(16), 8B C.R.S. (1993 Supp.) (" 'Insured work' means employment for employers.").

The Division found that, pursuant to section 8-70-140(1)(a), 3B C.R.S. (1993 Supp.), Walker was not "employed" by the Institute, because the organization was "operated primarily for religious purposes." Section 8-70-140(1)(a) provides:

8-70-140. Employment does not include--nonprofit organizations. (1) For the purposes of sections 8-70-118 and 8-70-119, "employment" does not include services performed:

(a) In the employ of a church, convention, or association of churches or in the employ of an organization which is operated primarily for religious purposes and which is operated, supervised, controlled, or principally supported by a church or convention or association of churches; ....

Accordingly, the Division denied Walker's claim for employment compensation benefits. Walker appealed, and was granted a hearing before a referee. ¹ The referee made the following findings of fact and conclusions that are at issue in this appeal:

The Samaritan Institute is a 501(e)(3) organization which is the national administrative office for the Samaritan Centers located across the United States. The centers are independently incorporated and are connected to the Institute by a contractual agreement of affiliation. For an affiliation fee the centers receive from the Institute accreditation, consultation, and administrative resources. The centers provide counseling services and may or may not be located on the property of a church building. The centers generate most of their funds from the income collected from clients or insurance payments collected for counseling services. The remainder comes from fund raising and donations from corporations and foundations. Although the counseling is provided within a religious context, a religious affiliation or interest is not a requirement to the counseling which is provided.

The Samaritan Institute is an outgrowth of the Samaritan ministry which began in 1972 in Indiana, which began as a counseling center located in a church. However, since its incorporation in Colorado in December, 1978, the Institute does no counseling. Funding for the Institute is primarily generated from fees charged to its centers for affiliation. The institute also receives funding from individuals and corporations through fund-raising activities.

The major services provided by the Samaritan Institute to the various Samaritan Centers are to provide administrative resources, accreditation, and new center development. The major objectives of the Institute [are] to ensure quality service, cost effectiveness, organizational help, and local and national accountability. The Samaritan Institute is affiliated with a large number of religious organizations.

The referee concludes that the claimant's wages from this employment are not exempt under Section 8-70-140(a), C.R.S. In arriving at this conclusion the referee finds that the Samaritan Institute is not operated primarily for a religious purpose. The Samaritan Institute is operated as a non-profit corporation which provides accreditation, consultation, and administrative resources for the various Samaritan Centers pursuant to a contractual agreement of affiliation. The services provided by the Samaritan Centers are counseling services for individuals who are undergoing emotional stress and pain.

(Emphasis added.)

The referee held that the exemption was not available to the Institute and that Walker's wages could be used to determine unemployment compensation benefits. The Institute appealed to the Industrial Claim Appeals Office (Panel). The Panel found that the statutory exemption was available to the Institute as an organization operated primarily for religious purposes. Walker appealed to the court of appeals, which reversed the Panel and held:

When reviewing a referee's decision, the Panel's authority is limited. Pursuant to § 8-74-104 (1986 Repl.Vol. 3B), the Panel may affirm, modify, reverse, or set aside a hearing officer's decision based on the evidence in the record. The Panel's authority is similar to an appellate court's authority and is governed by the Administrative Procedure Act, § 24-4-105, C.R.S. (1988 Repl.Vol. 10A). Federico v. Brannan Sand & Gravel Co., 788 P.2d 1268 (Colo.1990).

Section 24-4-105(15)(b), C.R.S. (1988 Repl.Vol. 10A) provides, in part:

The findings of evidentiary fact, as distinguished from ultimate conclusions of fact, made by the administrative law judge or hearing officer shall not be set aside by the agency on review of the initial decision unless such findings of evidentiary fact are contrary to the weight of evidence.

See also Clark v. Colorado State University, 762 P.2d 698 (Colo.App.1988). If the Panel determines that an ultimate conclusion of fact is not supported by the evidentiary findings, it may reach its own such conclusion based on the evidentiary findings. Federico v. Brannan Sand & Gravel Co., supra.

Evidentiary facts are detailed factual or historical findings upon which a legal determination rests; an ultimate fact involves a question of law or a mixed question of law and fact that settles the rights and liabilities of the parties. Lee v. State Board of Dental Examiners, 654 P.2d 839 (Colo.1982).

We hold here that the Panel exceeded its authority by substituting its own evidentiary findings for those of the referee which are amply supported by the record. We also hold that the Panel's ultimate findings and conclusion are not supported by the factual findings of the referee. Hence, we set aside the Panel's order.

Prince-Walker v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 870 P.2d 588, 590 (Colo.App.1993).

II

We agree with the court of appeals that the Institute does not fall within the ambit of protection and the exemption provided by section 8-70-140(1)(a), 3B C.R.S. (1993 Supp.). We also agree with the court of appeals that the Institute is not entitled to the exemption afforded to organizations "operated primarily for religious purposes."

A

Section 8-70-140(1)(a) contains an exemption for organizations that are "operated primarily for religious purposes." In interpreting a statute, the court must attempt to discern the General Assembly's intent. Scoggins v. Unigard Ins. Co., 869 P.2d 202, 205 (Colo.1994); Kern v. Gebhardt, 746 P.2d 1340 (Colo.1987). Plain meaning of the statute, if ascertainable, is dispositive. City & County of Denver v. Howard, 622 P.2d 568, 569 (Colo.1981). "If the language of the statute is clear and the intent of the General Assembly may be discerned with certainty, it is not necessary to resort to other rules of statutory interpretation." Scoggins, 869 P.2d at 205.

Plain interpretation of the meaning of section 8-70-140(1)(a) emphasizes the activities of an organization. The word "operated" connotes activity. Thus, the type of activity actually engaged in, rather than the motivation and impetus for the activity, is dispositive. Standing alone, however, the word "operated" does not offer much assistance. Therefore, the words "primarily" and "for religious purposes" offer guidance in determining the contours of the phrase.

B

We have not previously addressed the scope of section 8-70-140(1)(a). The statute is, however, identical to 26 U.S.C. § 3309(b) (1988), and other state legislatures have adopted similar statutes that have been the subject of judicial review. The activities of an organization, and not the motivation behind those activities, determine whether an exemption is warranted. St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church v. South Dakota, 451 U.S. 772, 781, 101 S.Ct. 2142, 2147-48, 68 L.Ed.2d 612 (1981); Terwilliger v. St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Ctr., 304 Ark. 626, 804 S.W.2d 696, 699 (1991); Concordia Ass'n v. Ward, 177 Ill.App.3d 438, 126 Ill.Dec. 726, 532 N.E.2d 411, 414 (1 Dist.1988).

Some activities clearly fall within the scope of the statutory exclusion, while others require an ad hoc determination based upon the facts. The United States Supreme Court, in addressing the federal counterpart to section 8-70-140(1)(a), said:

[T]he services of a janitor of a church would be excluded [i.e., exempted], but...