Wilson v. Marion County Health Department

542 S.E.2d 856, 208 W. Va. 693, 2000 W. Va. LEXIS 135
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 5, 2000
DocketNo. 27763
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 542 S.E.2d 856 (Wilson v. Marion County Health Department) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilson v. Marion County Health Department, 542 S.E.2d 856, 208 W. Va. 693, 2000 W. Va. LEXIS 135 (W. Va. 2000).

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

This is appeal by Lillian Wilson from an order of the Circuit Court of Marion County which affirmed a decision of the West Virginia Education and State Employees Grievance Board holding that the Marion County Health Department properly terminated Ms. Wilson’s employment during a reduction in force. In rendering the decision, the circuit court, in effect, ruled that Ms. Wilson was not entitled to tenure credit for certain days while she was off work due to a work-related injury. On appeal, Ms. Wilson claims that the court should have remanded her case for an additional administrative hearing to afford her an opportunity to present newly discovered evidence that would have established her entitlement to the additional tenure credit.

I.

FACTS

In August 1998, the Marion County Health Department informed the West Virginia Division of Personnel that it would be required to reduce its staff because of a lack of work and a lack of funding. To accomplish the reduction of staff, the Marion County Health Department devised a plan to dismiss employees on the basis of tenure. The Marion County Health Department filed the proposed plan with the West Virginia Division of Personnel, and also filed the tenure calculation for its employees with the Division. The Division of Personnel approved the lay-off plan and returned the tenure calculations to the Marion County Health Department for further verification.

While employed with the Marion County Health Department, the appellant Lillian Wilson suffered an on-the-job injury covered by West Virginia’s Workers’ Compensation Act, and she was awarded temporary total disability benefits under the Act. Under regulations covering Ms. Wilson’s employment, she was entitled to tenure credit while she was away from work and was receiving temporary total disability benefits. At a certain [695]*695point, the Workers’ Compensation Division terminated the payment of Ms. Wilson’s temporary total disability benefits. Ms. Wilson protested the termination, and commenced workers’ compensation litigation to reverse the termination.

On December 9, 1998, while the litigation over the termination of Ms. Wilson’s temporary total disability benefits was still pending, the Marion County Health Department, as a part of its reduction-in-force, terminated Ms. Wilson’s employment. This decision was predicated on its conclusion that she was the Department’s least senior employee. Following her layoff, Ms. Wilson filed a grievance pursuant to the provisions of W. Va. Code 29-6A-1, et seq.

While Ms. Wilson prosecuted her grievance, her workers’ compensation claim for additional temporary total disability benefits remained in litigation, and it was still unresolved on April 7,1999, when the West Virginia Education and State Employees Grievance Board rendered its final decision.

On April 16, 1999, nine days after the Grievance Board decision, the Workers’ Compensation Division granted Ms. Wilson temporary total disability benefits for the period December 13, 1994, through May 12, 1995. As a consequence, she claims in the present proceeding that she was entitled to an additional 152 tenure credit days and that if this credit had existed at the time of her layoff, she would have been more senior than an employee retained by the Marion County Health Department.

Ms. Wilson petitioned the Circuit Court of Marion County to review the administrative law judge’s decision and, in the course of the review, she requested a remand of the case for an additional administrative hearing so that newly discovered evidence, that she was entitled to the days of temporary total disability which had been in litigation, could be considered.

The circuit court refused to remand the action for taking of newly discovered evidence and affirmed the decision upholding Ms. Wilson’s layoff. It is from the circuit court’s action that Ms. Wilson now appeals.

II.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Court has indicated that it reviews decisions of a circuit court in an administrative case under the same standard as that by which the circuit court reviews the decision of the administrative law judge in the administrative proceeding. Martin v. Randolph County Board of Education, 195 W.Va. 297, 465 S.E.2d 399 (1995).

West Virginia Code 18-29-7 provides that a circuit court may set aside a decision of a hearing examiner in a case such as the one presently before the Court if a decision is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or contrary to the law. Martin v. Randolph County Board of Education, id., and Board of Education of the County of Mercer v. Wirt, 192 W.Va. 568, 453 S.E.2d 402 (1994). Further, the Court has indicated that: “A final order of the hearing examiner for the West Virginia Educational Employees Grievance Board, made pursuant to W. Va.Code, 18-29-1, et seq. (1995), and based upon findings of fact, should not be reversed unless clearly wrong.” Syllabus Point 1, Randolph County Board of Education v. Scalia, 182 W.Va. 289, 387 S.E.2d 524 (1989).

III.

DISCUSSION

Judicially, it is generally recognized that the correctness of a ruling is assessed by examining the facts as they existed at the time of the ruling. As stated in 5 C.J.S. Appeal and Error § 730:

[O]rdinarily, the correctness of the ruling complained of will be determined on appeal as of the time when it was made and according to what the record shows was before the lower court at that time.
So, as a general rule, matters subsequently communicated or brought to light or happening after the ruling objected to, and hence not considered by the lower court in connection with the ruling complained of, will not be considered on appeal.

See, Martin v. Randolph County Board of Education, supra.

[696]*696In the present case, the West Virginia Education and State Employees Grievance Board rendered a decision on April 7, 1999. At that time, Ms. Wilson had not been granted credit for the 152 days of temporary total disability benefits to which she claimed that she was entitled under the Workers’ Compensation law although her claim for such benefits was in litigation. Under the state of the facts as they existed at that time, she was the employee subject to dismissal under the reduetion-in-force plan adopted by the Marion County Health Department. The same situation prevailed at the time the West Virginia Education and State Employees Grievance Board rendered its decision.

In view of the fact that the decision rendered by the West Virginia Education State Employees Grievance Board was supported by the facts as they existed at the time of the ruling, this Court cannot conclude that that ruling was clearly wrong or that the circuit court erred in affirming the decision of the Board, notwithstanding the fact that later factual developments might have supported a different decision by the Board.

The Court notes that Ms.

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654 S.E.2d 588 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
542 S.E.2d 856, 208 W. Va. 693, 2000 W. Va. LEXIS 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-marion-county-health-department-wva-2000.