Welch v. Del Monte Corp.

• Decision Date: 03 May 1996
• Docket Number: No. 21767,21767
• Parties: Ron E. WELCH, Claimant-Respondent, v. DEL MONTE CORPORATION, Employer, Defendant-Respondent, and State of Idaho, Department of Employment, Defendant-Appellant. . Boise, February 1996 Term
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 1371

915 P.2d 1371

128 Idaho 513

Ron E. WELCH, Claimant-Respondent, v. DEL MONTE CORPORATION, Employer, Defendant-Respondent, and State of Idaho, Department of Employment, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 21767.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

Boise, February 1996 Term.

May 3, 1996.

The decision of the Industrial Commission to re-open and reverse a decision on unemployment insurance benefits beyond the time for an appeal, vacated and remanded.

Alan G. Lance, Attorney General; Evelyn Thomas, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for appellant, Department of Employment.

Ron E. Welch, Idaho Falls, pro se respondent.

SCHROEDER, Justice.

This is an appeal by the Idaho Department of Employment (the Department) from a decision of the Idaho Industrial Commission (the Commission) in which the Commission sua sponte reversed its previous decision denying claimant Ron E. Welch unemployment insurance benefits after the time to appeal the decision expired.

I.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS.

Welch was employed by Del Monte Corporation (Del Monte) in Idaho Falls, Idaho, between October, 1979, and November 3, 1993. His primary position was that of warehouse laborer, but he also worked occasionally as a mill operator and lift-truck driver. Welch was assigned to feed canola seed into a cleaning machine.

Welch was discharged from his employment with Del Monte on November 3, 1993 Welch filed a claim for unemployment insurance benefits following proceedings before a Department eligibility examiner and a redetermination examiner. A Department appeals examiner concluded that Welch was discharged for misconduct. Welch appealed this decision to the Commission and requested a hearing to present additional evidence.

[128 Idaho 514] as a result of failure, on three occasions, to follow proper procedure to assure that seed was not contaminated. The first incident occurred on September 9, 1992, the second on November 18, 1992, and the last on October 27, 1993.

The Commission conducted a de novo review of the record and issued its Decision and Order on April 18, 1994, denying Welch's request for an additional hearing and affirming the appeals examiner's decision. Welch filed a Motion for Reconsideration. On July 5, 1994, the Commission issued an order denying Welch's motion for reconsideration.

On August 24, 1994, the Commission issued a new order setting aside its July 5, 1994, order denying Welch's motion for reconsideration and stating that Welch's original motion was "under advisement." The Department filed motions requesting the Commission to withdraw the order. The Department predicated its motions for withdrawal on the provisions of subsections (g) and (k)(1) of Idaho Code section 72-1368. ¹

On September 29, 1994, the Commission denied the Department's motion to withdraw its August 24, 1994, order, basing the denial on its conclusion that it still had jurisdiction of the matter since there had been no appeal of the order entered July 5, 1994. The Commission analogized the situation "to the correction of an injustice as provided for in Idaho Code, Section 72-719(3) wherein the Commission on its own motion may correct a manifest injustice." The Commission concluded the order by stating: "Thus, upon issuance of another Order on Reconsideration, the case will be final for the purposes of the time to appeal."

On November 2, 1994, the Commission issued its Order on Reconsideration in which it reversed the decision of the appeals examiner. The Commission made its own findings of fact in the substituted order rather than adopting the appeals examiner's findings as it had done in its original Decision and Order. The Commission's findings did not contradict those of the appeals examiner, but were more detailed. The Commission concluded that Welch's conduct did not rise to the level of misconduct.

II.

THE COMMISSION DID NOT HAVE CONTINUING JURISDICTION OF WELCH'S CLAIM FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS AFTER THE TIME FOR APPEAL HAD PASSED.

An administrative agency is a creature of statute, limited to the power and authority granted it by the Legislature and may not exercise its sub-legislative powers to modify, alter, or enlarge the legislative act which it administers. Roberts v. Transportation Dep't, 121 Idaho 727, 732, 827 P.2d 1178, 1183 (Ct.App.1991), aff'd, 121 Idaho 723, 827 P.2d 1174 (1992). An administrative tribunal exercises limited jurisdiction, and nothing is presumed in favor of its jurisdiction. Washington There is no provision in the Employment Security Law for the Commission to set aside a final order on its own motion. SECTION 72-719(3) OF THE IDAHO CODE², to which the Commission referred, does not give it the authority to set aside a final decision under the Employment Security Law. Section 72-719(3) is part of Idaho's comprehensive Worker's Compensation Law. There is no corresponding statute under Idaho's Employment Security Law.

[128 Idaho 515] Water Power Co. v. Kootenai Envtl. Alliance, 99 Idaho 875, 879, 591 P.2d 122, 126 (1979).

This case is analogous to Department of Employment v. Saint Alphonsus Hosp., 96 Idaho 470, 531 P.2d 232 (1975), in which the Commission granted the Department of Employment's motion for a rehearing despite the fact that section 72-1368(g) of the Employment Security Law did not include a provision for a rehearing of a Commission decision. 96 Idaho at 472, 531 P.2d at 234. The Court held that the Commission's rehearing was a nullity and did not stay the effective date of its earlier decision for purposes of appeal. Id. The Court specifically noted that, while the Worker's Compensation Law, pursuant to section 72-718 of the Idaho Code, provided for a rehearing of a worker's compensation claim by the Commission, the absence of a similar provision under the Employment Security Law was evidence that the Legislature did not intend for the Commission to have similar authority regarding claims for unemployment insurance benefits. Id. at 471-72, 531 P.2d at 233-34.

The Commission does not have express statutory authority to rescind a prior order that has become final and conclusive for all purposes once the time for appeal to this Court has expired. The Court in St. Alphonsus held that the Commission's authority to rehear a worker's compensation decision pursuant to section 72-718 did not extend to it authority regarding unemployment insurance claims. Id. at 472, 531 P.2d at 234. Similarly, the Commission's authority pursuant to section 72-719(3) to modify a worker's compensation award or agreement does not extend to the Commission's authority under the Employment Security Law. To the contrary, as the Court noted in St. Alphonsus, the existence of such a provision in the Worker's Compensation Law is evidence that the absence of a similar provision in the Employment Security Law is an express legislative omission. Id. at 471-72, 531 P.2d at 233-34.

In Luskin v. Department of Employment, 100 Idaho 584, 602 P.2d 947 (1979), this Court held that statutory requirements governing appeals under the Employment Security Act are mandatory and jurisdictional. 100 Idaho at 586, 602 P.2d at 949. In Luskin, the fact that a claimant lied to protect the status of his benefits award came to light in a hearing to determine whether or not he had been overpaid due to part-time employment. The appeals examiner concluded that he had not been overpaid but that he should be denied one week's benefits because he failed to report his status on time. Neither party appealed or contested this decision. Id. at 585, 602 P.2d at 948. Subsequently, the Department issued a new determination denying the claimant future benefits on the basis that he had withheld material information and made false statements in an effort to obtain benefits. Id. A new appeals examiner heard the issue and upheld the Department's determination, and the Commission likewise heard the matter and affirmed the denial of benefits. Id. In remanding the case back to the appeals examiner, the Court reasoned that, because section 72-1368(f) of the Idaho Code mandated that such additional evidence be considered by the original appeals examiner, the second appeals examiner and the Commission lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the issue of Luskin's alleged fabrication. Id. at 585-86, 602 P.2d at 948-49. Similarly, in Striebeck v. Employment Sec. Agency, 83 Idaho 531, 366 P.2d 589 (1961), this Court held that the statutory requirements governing the right of appeal under the Employment Security Law are mandatory and jurisdictional. 83 Idaho at 537, 366 P.2d at 592. The Court concluded that, because section 72-1368(d) of the Idaho Code expressly provided that a benefits claim redetermination shall become final unless an appeal is filed within 14 days of the date that notice of the decision is mailed, the appeals examiner and the Commission were without jurisdiction to hear the claimant's appeal beyond that time. Id. at 538, 366 P.2d at 593. ³

In this case the Commission did not have jurisdiction to reconsider Welch's claim for unemployment benefits after the time for appeal passed on the final order denying benefits.

III.

THE COMMISSION'S DECISION AND ORDER OF APRIL 18, 1994, AND ORDER ON RECONSIDERATION OF JULY 5, 1994, ARE RES JUDICATA AS TO WELCH'S CLAIM FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.

This Court has held that the doctrine of res judicata applies to the effect of administrative decisions. J & J Contractors/O.T. Davis v. State, 118 Idaho 535, 537, 797 P.2d 1383, 1385 (1990); Blackburn v. Olson, 69 Idaho 428, 433, 207 P.2d 1160, 1163 (1949). This Court has also applied the doctrine of res judicata to unemployment-insurance decisions of the ...