Jacky v. Avitus Group

2013 MT 296, 311 P.3d 423, 372 Mont. 134, 2013 WL 5575342, 2013 Mont. LEXIS 416
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 10, 2013
DocketDA 13-0114
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2013 MT 296 (Jacky v. Avitus Group) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jacky v. Avitus Group, 2013 MT 296, 311 P.3d 423, 372 Mont. 134, 2013 WL 5575342, 2013 Mont. LEXIS 416 (Mo. 2013).

Opinions

JUSTICE COTTER

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 Susan R. Jacky (Jacky) appeals the orders denying her petition for review and her motion to set aside the judgment of the Twenty-second Judicial District Court, Carbon County. We reverse and remand for a review of the administrative record.

ISSUE

¶2 A restatement of the dispositive issue on appeal is:

¶3 Did the District Court err when it denied a petition for judicial review because no supporting brief was filed?

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶4 Jacky worked as a bus driver for Big Sky Bus Lines in Great Falls, Montana. After leaving her job, she applied for unemployment benefits with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry (the Department). On July 5,2012, the Department issued a determination that Jacky was not qualified to receive unemployment benefits. The Department affirmed its initial determination on August 3, 2013. Jacky timely requested an administrative hearing, after which the hearing officer affirmed the redetermination. Jacky then filed an appeal to the Board of Labor Appeals (the Board). The Board adopted and affirmed the decision of the hearing officer on November 20,2012.

¶5 After exhausting her administrative remedies, Jacky, appearing as a self-represented litigant, filed a petition for review in the District Court. Jacky attached copies of various documents to her petition, including a copy of the Board’s decision. Jacky did not serve the Department with her petition. On January 18,2013, the District Court denied Jacky’s petition for failure to comply with Rule 2 of the Montana Uniform District Court Rules (Rule 2) because Jacky had not filed a supporting brief or stated issues of law for review.

¶6 Upon receiving a copy of the court’s January 18 order, the Department first learned of the action in District Court. In turn, it filed a motion to set aside the judgment. The Department argued that Montana law requires a district court to review the administrative [136]*136record to determine whether the Board correctly applied the law and whether the factual findings of the Board are supported by substantial evidence. According to the Department, “[t]he unique statutory standard of review of an unemployment insurance matter, pursuant to §39-51-2410(5), MCA, preclude[d] the entry of a default judgment by the [c]ourt.”

¶7 On January 30,2013, the District Court denied the Department’s motion. The District Court stated that it “understood] the applicable procedure explicitly,’’but that such procedure was not at issue because Jacky failed to “[raise] any identifiable question of law for the Court’s review” and to “state the grounds upon which a review is sought.” The District Court affirmed its initial denial.

¶8 Jacky filed an appeal with this Court on February 11,2013. Jacky argues that Rule 2 is inapplicable because it governs motions, not petitions for review. Jacky further argues that the statutory procedure for judicial review in unemployment cases does not require parties to submit supporting briefs with their petitions for review. Jacky contends the District Court should not have dismissed her petition without first giving her leave to amend, especially as no other party would have suffered prejudice.

¶9 In its answer brief, the Department also requests we reverse the District Court’s order and remand this case, arguing the District Court erred by failing to conduct a review of the administrative record. The Department argues the petition for judicial review is governed by Montana’s unemployment insurance law, which directs a district court to expedite judicial review of Board decisions and to conduct a review of the administrative record.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶10 Denial of a petition for judicial review due to a petitioner’s failure to comply with a procedural rule is a conclusion of law. We review a court’s conclusions of law for correctness. Galassi v. Lincoln Co. Bd. of Commrs., 2003 MT 319, ¶ 7, 318 Mont. 288, 80 P.3d 84.

DISCUSSION

¶11 Did the District Court err when it denied a petition for judicial review because no supporting brief was filed?

¶12 On appeal, both parties contend the District Court improperly denied Jacky’s petition for judicial review. We conclude that the District Court erred when it denied Jacky’s petition for failure to file a supplemental brief. We decline to address the other issues raised by the parties as this issue is dispositive.

[137]*137¶13 Section 39-51-2410, MCA, sets out the process to be followed in seeking judicial review of a Board decision on a claim for unemployment benefits. Pursuant to §39-51-2410(2), MCA, “any party aggrieved thereby may secure judicial review thereof by commencing an action in the district court,” filing a petition “stat[ing] the grounds upon which a review is sought,” and “serv[ing] [it] upon the commissioner of labor and industry and all interested parties.”

¶14 Rule 2 provides: ‘The moving party shall file a supporting brief upon filing a motion.”The District Court concluded that Jacky violated this rule by failing to attach a brief to her petition.

¶15 A motion is “[a] written or oral application requesting a court to make a specified ruling or order.” Black’s Law Dictionary 1106 (Bryan A. Garner ed., 9th ed., West 2009). A petition, on the other hand, is merely “[a] formal written request presented to a court or other official body.” Black’s Law Dictionary at 1261. While it is obvious that one seeking judicial review of a Board decision hopes to have the decision overturned, the petitioner is not obligated under the governing statute to file a supporting brief. Rather, she is simply invoking her statutory remedy and asking the District Court to review the decision of the Board.

¶16 Further, we note that the procedures set forth in §39-51-2410, MCA, are specifically tailored to meet the purposes of the unemployment insurance chapter. “When a general and particular provision are inconsistent, the latter is paramount to the former, so a particular intent will control a general one that is inconsistent with it.” Section 1-2-102, MCA; see also State v. Garner, 1999 MT 295, ¶ 26, 297 Mont. 89, 990 P.2d 175 (‘[T]he Rules of Civil Procedure apply in a post-conviction relief proceeding only when they are applicable and not inconsistent with post-conviction statutes.”) (italics in original); Rierson v. State, 191 Mont. 66, 70, 622 P.2d 195, 198 (1981) (‘Only in the broadest sense could these limitations [for written contracts or other obligations] be considered to be controlling, and since there is a more specific statute involving injury to personal property rights, of which retirement benefits are one, we are constrained to follow the more specific statute.”); Weston v. Cole, 233 Mont. 61, 63, 758 P.2d 289, 291 (1988) (holding the two-year period for filing a particular tort action such as assault and battery controls over the more general three-year statute of limitations for tort actions).

¶17 Because the specific statutory procedures set forth in §39-51-2410, MCA, govern these proceedings, and because a petition is not a motion, the provisions of Rule 2 do not apply to a petition for judicial review.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2013 MT 296, 311 P.3d 423, 372 Mont. 134, 2013 WL 5575342, 2013 Mont. LEXIS 416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jacky-v-avitus-group-mont-2013.