Arlanda Arnay Smith v. Mark Butler, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Labor

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: February 18, 2015
• Docket: A15A0844
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ February 17, 2015

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A15A0844. ARLANDA ARNAY SMITH v. MARK BUTLER, COMMISSIONER OF THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR et al.

Arlanda Smith filed this direct appeal from a superior court order upholding his disqualification of unemployment benefits by the Georgia Department of Labor Board of Review. We lack jurisdiction for two reasons. First, under OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1), “[a]ppeals from decisions of the superior courts reviewing decisions of . . . local administrative agencies . . . by certiorari or de novo proceedings” must be made by filing an application for discretionary appeal. See Consolidated Government of Columbus v. Barwick, 274 Ga. 176, 177 (1) (549 SE2d 73) (2001). Accordingly, Smith was required to file a discretionary application in order to appeal the superior court’s ruling. In addition, Smith filed an application for discretionary appeal from the same order he seeks to appeal here, and we denied that application. See Smith v. Butler, Application Number A15D0136 (decided November 24, 2014). That denial was a decision on the merits, and the doctrine of res judicata bars any subsequent appeals from the same order. See Hook v. Bergen, 286 Ga. App. 258, 261 (1) (649 SE2d 313) (2007); Northwest Social & Civic Club v. Franklin, 276 Ga. 859, 860 (583 SE2d 858) (2003). For these reasons, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 02/17/2015 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.