Taylor v. Ky. Unemployment Ins. Comm'n

• Decision Date: 25 October 2012
• Docket Number: No. 2011–SC–000346–DG.,2011–SC–000346–DG.
• Citation: 382 S.W.3d 826
• Parties: Tony C. TAYLOR, Appellant, v. KENTUCKY UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE COMMISSION and River Metals Recycling, LLC, Appellees.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

382 S.W.3d 826

Tony C. TAYLOR, Appellant,

v.KENTUCKY UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE COMMISSION and River Metals Recycling, LLC, Appellees.

No. 2011–SC–000346–DG.

Supreme Court of Kentucky.

Oct. 25, 2012.

William Clinton Prow, Providence, KY, Counsel for Appellant, Tony C. Taylor.

Amy F. Howard, Office of Legal and Legislative Services, Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, Frankfort, KY, Counsel for Appellee, Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission.

Joseph Hubert Langerak, IV, Lauren E. Dimmitt, Rudolph, Fine, Porter & Johnson, LLP, Evansville, IN, Counsel for Appellee, River Metals Recycling, LLC.

Opinion of the Court by Justice VENTERS.

Tony C. Taylor appeals from an opinion of the Court of Appeals which affirmed an order of the Henderson Circuit Court dismissing his petition for review of a decision of the Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission (KUIC). In addition to denying Taylor unemployment benefits, KUIC ordered Taylor to reimburse $12,785.00 in benefit payments that he had already received.

Relying upon controlling precedent, the circuit court dismissed Taylor's petition for review because it did not comply with the verification requirement contained in KRS 341.450(1). The circuit court thus concluded that its jurisdiction was not invoked within the twenty-day limitations period provided for filing such an action. From this determination, the court further concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to grant Taylor's motion to file a properly verified amended petition, leaving no alternative but to dismiss the case with prejudice.

On appeal, Taylor raises the following claims for our review: (1) that failure to include a verification clause in the original application did not deprive the circuit court of jurisdiction, and thus the court could have granted his motion to amend; (2) that even if the verification requirement is jurisdictional he substantially complied with KRS 341.450's verification requirement; (3) that he has met the requirements of KRS 341.450(1) as amended because his attorney signed the petition which pursuant to CR 11 suffices to qualify as a verification; and (4) that KRS 13B.140 grants the circuit court subject matter jurisdiction and supersedes KRS 341.450.

For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Taylor alleged that he terminated his employment at River Metals because of health problems. After the local unemployment office determined that Taylor was entitled to draw unemployment benefits, River Metals appealed to the KUIC. Following a hearing, the referee agreed that Taylor had voluntarily quit his job for good cause and was entitled to benefits. Upon its review, KUIC reversed the referee's assessment and concluded that Taylor's voluntary termination of his employment was without good cause. It also ordered that Taylor must reimburse the $12,785.00 in benefits he had received.

On the final day of the twenty-day period allowed for seeking judicial review of a KUIC decision, Taylor filed a petition for review in the Henderson Circuit Court. Although Taylor's attorney had signed the petition, his signature was not verified. The petition did not otherwise include a verification provision of any sort whatsoever; nor was it signed by Taylor.

River Metals moved to dismiss the action on the grounds that, without formal verification, the petition failed to meet the jurisdictional requirements found in KRS 341.450. Well beyond the expiration of the twenty-day limitations period, Taylor attempted to cure the deficient pleading by moving to file an amended petition that had the proper verification. In his motion to amend, Taylor explained that he had inadvertently omitted the verification of the petition. KUIC also moved for dismissal on the same grounds asserted by River Metals.

The circuit court concluded that strict compliance with the terms of KRS 341.450 was necessary in order to invoke its jurisdiction, and that without formal verification, the petition did not comply with the statute. The court further reasoned that, since the defective petition was inadequate to invoke its jurisdiction, the court lacked authority to grant the motion to amend the petition. Accordingly, the circuit court dismissed the case.

On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal, relying principally upon three prior decisions addressing substantially similar issues. See Fisher v. Kentucky Unemployment Ins. Com'n, 880 S.W.2d 891, 891 (Ky.App.1994) (attorney's signature on the petition for review was not sufficient compliance with statutory “verified complaint” requirement to confer jurisdiction on circuit court.); Monyhan v. Kentucky Unemployment Ins. Com'n, 709 S.W.2d 837 (Ky.App.1986) (The claimant's unverified petition for review of the Unemployment Commission's ruling was dismissed because it was not filed in the appropriate circuit court and was therefore not in compliance with the statutory requirement for verified complaints.); Pickhart v. U.S. Post Office, 664 S.W.2d 939, 940 (Ky.App.1983) (claimant's failure to comply with statute requiring that a complaint filed to secure judicial review be verified, was fatal to his appeal).

Pickhart, the Court of Appeals discussed the issue as follows:

The sole question in this case is whether or not the verification requirement is mandatory or merely a ministerial act.

Under the Civil Code of Practice all complaints were required to be verified, but a failure to do so was cured by an amended complaint and leave to file such amendments were [sic] freely granted by the courts. City of Dayton v. Hirth, 121 Ky. 42, 87 S.W. 1136 (1905). Appellant argues that the principle enunciated in the above case and in numerous subsequent cases cited in appellant's brief should in some way guide us in reaching a decision in the case at bar. Since the requirement for verification is described in those cases as being merely ministerial and not mandatory, we cannot agree with this contention. The requirement for verification is mandated by the statute quoted above and the failure to comply is fatal to appellant's appeal. In the case of Roberts v. Watts, Ky., 258 S.W.2d 513 (1953), the appellant failed to assign all errors relied upon in an appeal from the Departmentof Transportation to the Franklin Circuit Court. The Court of Appeals, in affirming the trial court's dismissal, stated as follows:

The right of appeal in administrative ... proceedings does not exist as a matter of right. When the right is conferred by statute, a strict compliance with its terms is required. It is the general rule that where the conditions for the exercise of the power of the court are wanting the judicial power is not, in fact, lawfully invoked. The appeal, not having been properly perfected, the Franklin Circuit Court was without jurisdiction and properly dismissed the appeal.

....

It is our view that the failure of a party to strictly comply with the mandatory provisions of a statute authorizing an appeal from an administrative agency is jurisdictional. Therefore, any such failure is fatal to the appeal.

Pickhart, 664 S.W.2d at 940.

Monyhan relied upon the holding in Pickhart to answer the same question the same way, and Fisher relied upon those two holdings, plus Carter, to reach the same conclusion. We believe these four cases accurately state the rule in the case before us, and thus we hold that a properly verified complaint is required to invoke circuit court jurisdiction under KRS 341.450(1), and, further, that a CR 11 signature by the claimant's attorney is insufficient to comply with the verification requirements of the statute.

Taylor acknowledges that Pickhart, Monyhan and Fisher squarely hold that the failure to verify a petition for judicial review of a decision of the Commission is jurisdictional and strict compliance with the rule is required. Nevertheless, he argues that those cases were wrongly decided and contends that, “[t]he notion that the court lacks jurisdiction for want of verification simply should not be the law. Such was not the law under the strict fact pleading system of old and should not be the law under the current notice pleading rules of civil procedure system[s] which are designed to facilitate decisions on the merits. No public policy or legislative intent exist [sic] to defend a holding to the contrary.”

We granted discretionary review in order to examine whether the settled precedent relied upon by the circuit court and the Court of Appeals remains viable, whether the verification requirement of KRS 341.450(1) requires strict compliance, and whether the attorney's signature on the petition should be regarded as satisfying the statutory requirement for verification.

II. VERIFICATION AND CIRCUIT COURT JURISDICTION

Judicial review of KUIC decisions is provided by KRS 341.450(1), which states:

(1)Except as provided in KRS 341.460, within twenty (20) days after the date of the decision of the commission, any party aggrieved thereby may, after exhausting his remedies before the commission, secure judicial review thereof by filing a complaint against the commission in the Circuit Court of the county in which the claimant was last employed by a subject employer whose reserve account or reimbursing employer account is affected by such claims. Any other party to the proceeding before the commission shall be made a defendant in such action. The complaint shall state fully the grounds upon which review is sought, assign all errors relied on, and shall be verified by the plaintiff or his attorney. The plaintiff shall furnish copies thereof for each defendant to the commission, which shall deliver one (1) copy to each defendant.

(emphasis added).

Thus, pursuant to the plain terms of the statute, in order to secure judicial review, a claimant must file a verified complaint against the KUIC and the employer in the appropriate circuit court within twenty days after the KUIC's decision. Taylor's original complaint met all...