State Ex Rel. Cleveland Ry. Co. v. Atkinson

34 N.E.2d 233, 138 Ohio St. 157, 138 Ohio St. (N.S.) 157, 20 Ohio Op. 162, 1941 Ohio LEXIS 433
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedApril 16, 1941
Docket28376
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 34 N.E.2d 233 (State Ex Rel. Cleveland Ry. Co. v. Atkinson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. Cleveland Ry. Co. v. Atkinson, 34 N.E.2d 233, 138 Ohio St. 157, 138 Ohio St. (N.S.) 157, 20 Ohio Op. 162, 1941 Ohio LEXIS 433 (Ohio 1941).

Opinion

Williams, J.

The controlling question raised by the general demurrer to the petition is: Did The Cleveland Railway Company, the relator herein, have an adequate remedy by way of appeal from a decision of the administrator on its application with respect to seasonal and casual employment?

If the right of appeal existed the relator is not entitled to a writ of mandamus on the facts alleged in the petition and the general demurrer thereto should be sustained.

The determination of the question of appealability requires the especial consideration of certain statutory provisions: (a) Section 1345-29, General Code (116 Ohio Laws, part 2, 306), as it appeared in the original Unemployment Insurance Act, and Sections 1345-1 to 1345-35, inclusive, General Code, as amended and in effect August 7, 1937; (b) the subsequent *159 amending act entitled “An act to create a Bureau of Unemployment Compensation superseding the Unemployment Commission of Ohio,” etc. (Sections 1346 to 1346-5, inclusive, General Code [118 Ohio Laws, 32], effective February 28, 1939), by which Sections 1345-12, 1345-23 and 1345-29, General Code, were repealed; (c) the provisions on appellate procedure found in Sections 12223-3 and 12223-23, General Code; and (d) the general saving statute, Section 26, General Code.

The Cleveland Railway Company filed its application with the Unemployment Compensation Commission in December, 1938. Section 1345-29, General Code (116 Ohio Laws, part 2, 306), then in force, gave to an employer or employee aggrieved by an order of the commission the right to appeal therefrom to the Court of Common Pleas within 30 days. The section further provided that the appeal should be heard upon a transcript of the proceedings before the commission and that the order or decision should not be modified or reversed unless the court should find that it was unlawful or unreasonable. The statute did not provide any other steps to be taken to effect an appeal. Certainly no notice or appeal bond was necessary if not required by the enactment. It follows therefore that the appeal could be perfected by filing the transcript in the court appealed to within the time specified.

Before the application was heard by the commission, however, the amending act was passed, by which Section 1345-29, General Code, was repealed, the Unemployment Compensation Commission abolished absolutely and every matter pending before that body, including the application of the relator, transferred to the newly created administrator. By Section 1346-1, General Code, the administrator was given full power to hear all applications so transferred to him; but no appeal from his decisions (or that of his' deputy) was given except from decisions on claims for benefits. Section 1346-4, General Code. From such decisions *160 appeals were provided for, first to the board of review and then from its decision (or that of its referee) to the Court of Common Pleas. After reciting the provisions for such appeals, Section 1346-4, General Code, concludes with this language: “Except as herein provided, any decision made by the administrator or a deputy of the administrator by the board of review or one of its referees shall be final.”

After the amending act became effective, the administrator, having assumed office, heard and denied the application. Since the relator’s claim related to seasonal and casual employment under Sections 1345-10 and 1345-11, General Code, and not to benefits, the decision of the administrator by the terms of Section 1346-4, alone, was final and so unappealable. But it is maintained that a right of appeal is afforded by Sections 12223-3 and 12223-23, General Code, and, if not, that appealability is saved by Section 26, General Code.

What is the effect of Sections 12223-3 and 12223-23 ? Do they give a right of appeal from a final order of the administrator on matters other than claims for benefits notwithstanding the positive provision as to finality in Section 1346-4, General Code?

Section 12223-3, General Code: “Every final order, judgment or decree of a court and, when provided by law,. the final order of any administrative officer, tribunal, or commission may be reviewed as hereinafter provided unless otherwise provided by law * * (Italics ours.)

Section 12223-23, General Code: “A judgment rendered or final order made by a justice of the peace or any other tribunal, board, or officer, exercising judicial functions, and inferior to the Court of Common Pleas, may be reversed, vacated, or modified by the Common Pleas Court upon an appeal on questions of law.”

When these two sections are considered together it is clear that they have no application to an appeal *161 from the decision of the administrator. Section 1346-4 is specific and definite. It allows appeals from the administrator to the hoard of review and then only as to claims for benefits. As to all other matters (except in the exercise of the rule-making power under Section 1346-1, General Code) his action is final. Sections 12223-3 and 12223-23, when read together show they are inapplicable where there are such other specific and definite provisions covering the appealability and finality of orders of an administrative officer or board. Therefore Section 1346-4, alone, regulates the right of appeal from an order of the administrator, unless of course the general saving statute, Section 26, General Code, preserves the right as to an application filed originally with the commission.

It remains to consider the effect of the saving statute. By virtue of its provisions, when the repeal or amendment of a statute relates to the remedy, it shall not affect pending proceedings “unless so expressed.”

Under pronouncements of this court the undisposed of application of relator constituted a pending proceeding within the meaning of the statute. State, ex rel. Longano, v. Industrial Commission, 135 Ohio St., 165, 20 N. E. (2d), 230; State, ex rel. Podley, v. Industrial Commission, 127 Ohio St., 583, 190 N. E., 407; Industrial Commission v. Vail, 110 Ohio St., 304, 143 N. E., 716. Nevertheless, if an appeal under Section 1345-29, General Code, was a new action, then the saving statute would not preserve the right. For instance prior to the enactment of the Appellate Procedure Act, effective January 1,1936, an appeal, which carried the same cause to a higher court, was not a new action but a phase of the action in the court of first resort. On the other hand a proceeding in error, which was instituted by filing a petition accompanied by service of summons in error or entry of appearance, was itself a new and original proceeding. Charles v. Fawley, 71 Ohio St., 50, 72 N. E., 294. The *162 appeal provided for in Section 1345-29, was a part of the same proceeding that was begun by the filing of the application. For the purpose of illustration comparison may be made with the appeal provided for in Section 1346-4, which is begun by the filing of a petition in the Court of Common Pleas and the issuance of summons. The latter would be a new proceeding.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Schuler v. State
771 P.2d 1217 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1989)
Kunkler v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
522 N.E.2d 477 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1988)
Tague v. Board of Trustees
399 N.E.2d 1240 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1980)
Board of Education of the Miami Trace Local School District v. Marting
185 N.E.2d 597 (Fayette County Court of Common Pleas, 1962)
Howell v. Bureau of Unemployment Compensation
185 N.E.2d 765 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1961)
Bohley v. Patry
159 N.E.2d 252 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1958)
Woodward v. Eberly
167 Ohio St. (N.S.) 177 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1958)
State Ex Rel. City of Grand Island v. Union Pacific Railroad
42 N.W.2d 867 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1950)
Hallworth v. Republic Steel Corp.
91 N.E.2d 690 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1950)
Gunten v. New Justice Coal Co.
72 N.E.2d 253 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1947)
City of Toledo v. Jenkins
54 N.E.2d 656 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1944)
Re Estate of Lamberton
52 N.E.2d 855 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1944)
Crossett Lumber Company v. McCain, Comm. of Labor
170 S.W.2d 64 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1943)
State ex rel. Thompson v. Industrial Commission
138 Ohio St. (N.S.) 439 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1941)
State, Ex Rel. v. Indus. Comm.
35 N.E.2d 727 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1941)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
34 N.E.2d 233, 138 Ohio St. 157, 138 Ohio St. (N.S.) 157, 20 Ohio Op. 162, 1941 Ohio LEXIS 433, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-cleveland-ry-co-v-atkinson-ohio-1941.