Sutter County Only Had A Duty To Provide An Opportunity For Arbitration Review Of Termination Decision, Not To Provide Review.
Sutter County. January, 1942. Lee Russell, photographer. Marileeann Simpson holds a pan of vegetables freshly gathered from her family's garden at the FSA (Farm Security Administration) farm workers community. Yuba City. Library of Congress.
One who does not follow administrative rules risks losing substantive rights. Such was the fate of Fire Captain Gorden Graham in Graham v. County of Sutter, C074701 (3rd Dist. 10/24/17) (Hull, Mauro, Duarte) (unpublished).
Appellant Graham appealed from denial of his request for a writ of mandate requiring Sutter County to provide him a post-termination proceeding after he failed to comply with the deadline for requesting appointment of arbitrators. Graham, a Fire Captain, had been dismissed following his loss of EMT Certifcation, resulting from a domestic abuse violation and conviction for destroying a cellular telephone with intent to prevent its use to summon help. (Bet you didn't know there was such a Penal Code provision. Check out section 591.5).
Graham failed to proceed timely with requesting an arbitration list. The opinion states that the attorney "said he forgot to meet the county's deadline due to a 'hectic' work week." Earlier, some deadlines had been extended.
The Court of Appeal did not cut any slack here. It concluded Graham had not been denied due process, because Sutter County "did not have a ministerial duty to provide the arbitration where Graham failed to follow Sutter County's procedures." And though the Court found authority requiring a good cause exception for late filing of an administrative appeal of dismissal of employment, it concluded that under the circumstances here, due process did not require Sutter County to allow a good cause exception to its internal appeal deadline associated with prosecution of an administrative appeal.
COMMENT: If one becomes involved in administrative proceedings, it is more than a good idea to chart the internal administrative deadlines, as well as any applicable statutory deadlines.
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