Transcon Lines, Inc. v. O'NEAL

429 N.W.2d 718, 230 Neb. 31, 1988 Neb. LEXIS 354, 48 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 38,535
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 30, 1988
Docket87-093
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 429 N.W.2d 718 (Transcon Lines, Inc. v. O'NEAL) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Transcon Lines, Inc. v. O'NEAL, 429 N.W.2d 718, 230 Neb. 31, 1988 Neb. LEXIS 354, 48 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 38,535 (Neb. 1988).

Opinion

White, J.

Transcon Lines, Inc., appeals the order of the district court for Douglas County dismissing Transcon Lines’ appeal from the final order of the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission (NEOC) finding Transcon Lines in violation of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1104(1) and (2) (Reissue 1984) of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act.

The facts in this action are not in dispute. This case arose out of an action by Lawrence D. O’Neal against his former employer, Transcon Lines, seeking reinstatement and backpay. O’Neal alleged he was terminated from employment based on disability, in violation of § 48-1104. The NEOC, in a final order dated October 10,1986, found that Transcon had discriminated against O’Neal due to physical disability, in violation of § 48-1104. The NEOC awarded backpay and reinstatement.

On November 10, 1986, Transcon filed a petition for review in the district court for Douglas County, Nebraska, pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-1120 (Reissue 1984) of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act. Transcon did not file a certified copy of the transcript of the record until November 19, 9 days after the 30-day period for appeal had passed. On November 14, O’Neal filed his motion to dismiss Transcon’s petition for review on the ground that the district court lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter of the appeal because Transcon failed to file a certified copy of the transcript of proceedings before the NEOC within 30 days of the NEOC’s final order.

After a hearing, the lower court entered an order sustaining O’Neal’s motion to dismiss and dismissing Transcon’s petition for review. The lower court held that because Transcon had not filed a certified copy of the transcript of record within the *33 30-day appeal period, Transcon “failed to substantially comply with the jurisdictional requirements contained in RRS 48-1120, 1943.” Transcon appeals the district court’s dismissal.

Whether § 48-1120 requires a certified copy of the transcript of record to be filed within the 30-day appeal period in order for the court to have jurisdiction over the appeal is a question of first impression. Section 48-1120 provides in relevant part:

(1) Any party to a proceeding before the commission aggrieved by such decision and order and directly affected thereby may institute proceedings in the district court. . . Provided, that the time for appeal from such order of the commission to the district court shall be limited to thirty days from the date of the entry of the order to which complaint is made____
(2) Such proceeding shall be initiated by the filing of a petition in such court, together with a transcript of the record upon the hearing before the commission and the service of a copy of such petition upon the commission and upon all parties who appeared at the hearing. Thereupon the court shall have jurisdiction of the proceeding and of the question determined therein.

While this court has not yet determined whether the filing of a certified copy of the transcript of proceedings before the NEOC is jurisdictional, the court has addressed the jurisdictional issue in the context of other statutes which require the aggrieved party to file a petition for review in the district court.

This court has repeatedly held that Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-1905 and 25-1931 (Reissue 1985) require the transcript of proceedings to be filed with the petition for review to confer jurisdiction on the district court. See, Clark v. Cornwell, 223 Neb. 282, 388 N.W.2d 848 (1986); Glup v. City of Omaha, 222 Neb. 355, 383 N.W.2d 773 (1986); Fisher v. Housing Auth. of City of Omaha, 214 Neb. 499, 334 N.W.2d 636 (1983); Marcotte v. City of Omaha, 196 Neb. 217, 241 N.W.2d 838 (1976); Lanc v. Douglas County Welfare Administration, 189 Neb. 651, 204 N.W.2d 387 (1973); Anania v. City of Omaha, 170 Neb. 160, 102 N.W.2d 49 (1960). Timely filing of both items is mandatory to confer jurisdiction on a court asked to review a final *34 judgment or order. Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-1901 et seq. (Reissue 1985), governing review of lower tribunal decisions, including decisions of administrative bodies, provide that proceedings “be commenced . . . within one calendar month after the rendition of the judgment or making of the final order complained of ...” § 25-1931. In addition, the plaintiff in error is required to “file with his petition a transcript of the proceedings containing the final judgment or order sought to be reversed, vacated or modified.” § 25-1905.

In addition to concluding that the filing of a certified copy of the transcript is mandatory and jurisdictional under § 25-1905, this court recently established that the filing of the transcript of proceedings relating to the refusal to issue or cancel a driver’s license is jurisdictional in proceedings under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-420 (Reissue 1984). In Ernest v. Jensen, 226 Neb. 759, 415 N.W.2d 121 (1987), the court held that the language of § 60-420 compelled the conclusion that the filing of the transcript is a necessary step to the acquisition of subject matter jurisdiction. Section 60-420 states in pertinent part, “The applicant or licensee shall file a petition in such district court within thirty days from the date of filing of the director’s final order in the matter and shall file the transcript before answer day....” This court in Ernest focused on the mandatory language in § 60-420, finding the language in that section stating that the applicant “shall file the transcript before answer day” to be controlling, and stated, “[W]e see no reason to depart from our previous holdings that ‘shall’ means that a mandatory action must be accomplished.” Ernest si 763, 415 N.W.2d at 124.

We believe the analysis utilized in construing § 25-1905 and § 60-420 is controlling in this case. The language in § 48-1120 is analogous to that in both §§ 25-1905 and 60-420. Section 48-1120(2) states that the proceeding “shall be initiated by the filing of a petition... together with a transcript of the record.. . . Thereupon the court shall have jurisdiction ...” Similarly, § 25-1905 states that “[t]he plaintiff in error shall file with his petition a transcript of the proceedings,” while § 60-420 mandates that “[t]he applicant...

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Bluebook (online)
429 N.W.2d 718, 230 Neb. 31, 1988 Neb. LEXIS 354, 48 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 38,535, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/transcon-lines-inc-v-oneal-neb-1988.