Smith v. Alabama Department of Labor

226 So. 3d 183, 2016 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 294, 2016 WL 7176565
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedDecember 9, 2016
Docket2150739
StatusPublished

This text of 226 So. 3d 183 (Smith v. Alabama Department of Labor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Alabama Department of Labor, 226 So. 3d 183, 2016 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 294, 2016 WL 7176565 (Ala. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

THOMPSON, Presiding Judge.

Jennifer Farley Smith appeals from a judgment of the Shelby Circuit Court (“the circuit court”) dismissing her appeal from a decision of the Alabama Department of Labor’s Board of Appeals (“the board of appeals”) on the ground that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction over the matter.

The record indicates the following. Smith began working as an administrative assistant for the City of Pelham (“the city”) on November 7, 2003. On October 1, 2015, Smith was discharged from her job with the city after an investigation' revealed that, during work hours with the city, she was using the city’s computer equipment and e-mail accounts to conduct business for her second job.

Smith applied for unemployment compensation with the Alabama Department of Labor (“ADOL”). On October 30, 2015, an ADOL examiner issued a notice of determination finding that Smith’s discharge from the city for the unauthorized use of city equipment constituted misconduct that disqualified her from receiving unemployment-compensation benefits for eight weeks and that warranted a reduction in the benefits she would be eligible to receive thereafter. Smith appealed the examiner’s decision, and an administrative-hearing officer conducted a hearing by telephone on December 14, 2015. On December 15, 2015, the hearing officer issued a decision in which he modified ADOL’s original determination and disqualified Smith from receiving any unemployment-compensation benefits in connection with the loss of her job with the city.

The hearing officer’s decision indicated that it was mailed to the parties and to Smith’s attorney on December 15, 2015. The decision also included the following language:

“APPEAL RIGHTS: This decision becomes final unless an application for leave to appeal to the Board of Appeals is received in writing at the Department address above or by fax at [the department’s telephone number] on or before the FINAL DATE OF December 30, 2015.”

(Emphasis and capitalization in the original.)

The parties agree that the board of appeals received Smith’s application to appeal on January 4, 2016. On January 8, 2016, the board of appeals entered a decision stating that, pursuant to § 25-4-92(c), Ala. Code 1975, because Smith had failed to file her application to appeal before the December 30, 2015, deadline, the board had “no statutory powers to affirm, modify, or set aside the decision of the [hearing officer] because it became final prior to the time your application for appeal was received.”

Smith appealed the board of appeals’ decision to the circuit court on January 29, 2016. On February 19, 2016, ADOL filed a motion to dismiss the appeal on the ground that her application to appeal to the board of appeals had been untimely. In response, Smith submitted an affidavit to the circuit court in which she stated that she had received the hearing officer’s decision on January 2, 2016.1 After a hearing, the cir[185]*185cuit court found that it did not have jurisdiction over the matter and dismissed Smith’s appeal in a judgment entered on April 22, 2016. Smith then appealed to this court.

The only issue Smith raises on appeal is whether the circuit court correctly interpreted and applied the law governing appeals from administrative decisions of ADOL to find that the board of' appeals and, consequently, the circuit court did not have jurisdiction to consider her appeal from the hearing officer’s deéision. The propriety of the hearing officer’s decision is not before this court.

Ordinarily, when 'considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, if a trial court considers matters outside the pleadings, such as Smith’s affidavit, the motion to dismiss is converted to a motion for a summary judgment. See Price v. Alabama One Credit Union, [Ms. 2141012, June 17, 2016] — So. 3d -, - (Ala. Civ. App. 2016); and Drees v. Turner, 10 So.3d 601, 603 (Ala. Civ. App. 2008). However,

“[u]nlike a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6)[, Ala. R. Civ. P.,] for failure to state a claim, a trial court may consider evidentiary matters submitted on a motion to dismiss attacking jurisdiction. Hutchinson v. Miller, 962 So.2d 884, 886 n. 2 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007). Therefore, the judgment disposing of Smith’s appeal can be reviewed as a Rule 12(b)(1) dismissal based on the trial court’s lack of jurisdiction. We review such a judgment in this matter de novo, without a presumption of correctness. Hill v. Hill, 89 So.3d 116, 118 (Ala. Civ. App. 2010).”

Johnson v. Dunn, 216 So.3d 1217, 1223 (Ala. Civ. App. 2016).

Smith contends that the time in which she had to appeal is governed by § 25-4-91(d)(1), Ala. Code 1975, which provides:

“Unless any party to whom notice of determination is required to be given shall, within seven calendar days after delivery of such notice or within 15 calendar days after such notice was mailed to his last known address, file an appeal from such decision, such decision shall be deemed final.”

Smith argues that § 25—4—91 (d)(1) provides two “alternative” dates for filing an appeal to the board of appeals: 7 days from the date of delivery of the notice of the decision or, she says, 15 days from the date such notice was mailed. In this case, Smith says, "she filed her application to appeal the hearing officer’s decision within seven days of January 2, 2016—the date she says she received the hearing officer’s decision. Therefore, she contends, the circuit court erred in finding that her application to appeal was untimely.

We are not persuaded by Smith’s argument,

“ ‘Statutes are in pari materia where they deal with the samé subject. Kelly v. State, 273 Ala. 240, 139 So.2d 326 [ (1962) ]. Where statutes are in pari materia they should be construed together to ascertain the meaning and intent of each. City of Birmingham v. Southern Express Co., [164 Ala. 529, 538, 51 So. 159, 162-63 [186]*186(1909)]. Where possible, statutes should be resolved in favor of each other to form one harmonious plan and give uniformity to the law. Waters v. City of Birmingham, 282 Ala. 104, 209 So.2d 388 [(1968)]; Walker County v. White, 248 Ala. 53, 26 So.2d 253 [ (1946) ].’
“League of Women Voters v. Renfro, 292 Ala. 128, 131, 290 So.2d 167, 169 (1974).”

Ex parte Alabama Bd. of Cosmetology & Barbering, 213 So.3d 587, 590 (Ala. Civ. App. 2016).

The statute Smith relies on, § 25-4-91, governs “[determinations and redetermi-nations upon claims for benefits.” Specifically, it governs determinations by the initial examiner, that is, the person who initially makes a decision regarding a claim filed for unemployment-compensation benefits. There is no dispute that Smith filed a timely appeal of the examiner’s decision and that the review of that decision was heard by the administrative-hearing officer.

Section 25-4-92, Ala. Code 1975, governs the next step in the process of a disputed claim for unemployment benefits. That statute provides:

“(a) To hear and decide disputed claims and other due process cases involving a division of the Department of Industrial Relations, the director shall appoint one or more impartial appeals tribunals, consisting in each instance of an officer or an employee of the Department of Industrial Relations.

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Related

League of Women Voters v. Renfro
290 So. 2d 167 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1974)
Haigler v. Department of Indus. Relations
512 So. 2d 113 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1987)
Hutchinson v. Miller
962 So. 2d 884 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2007)
Kelly v. State
139 So. 2d 326 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1962)
Drees v. Turner
10 So. 3d 601 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2008)
Waters v. City of Birmingham
209 So. 2d 388 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1968)
Olsen v. Moffat Road Veterinary Clinic
441 So. 2d 971 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1983)
Walker County v. White
26 So. 2d 253 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1946)
Alabama Department of Labor v. Grayson
141 So. 3d 1081 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2013)
Ex parte Alabama Board of Cosmetology & Barbering
213 So. 3d 587 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2016)
Johnson v. Dunn
216 So. 3d 1217 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2016)
Roy Wayne Hill v. Hill, 2090130 (ala.civ.app. 12-3-2010)
89 So. 3d 116 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2010)
City of Birmingham v. Southern Express Co.
51 So. 159 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1909)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
226 So. 3d 183, 2016 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 294, 2016 WL 7176565, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-alabama-department-of-labor-alacivapp-2016.