Lucille R. Kelley v. Texas Workforce Commission, Diane D. Rath, Chair Commissioner, Ron Lehman, Commissioner, Ronald G. Congleton, Humble ISD, Dr Mary Widmire and Alicia Boston-Mace--Appeal from 80th

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Laws-info.com » Cases » Texas » 1st District Court of Appeals » 2006 » Lucille R. Kelley v. Texas Workforce Commission, Diane D. Rath, Chair Commissioner, Ron Lehman, Commissioner, Ronald G. Congleton, Humble ISD, Dr Mary Widmire and Alicia Boston-Mace--Appeal from 80th

State: Texas

Court: Texas Northern District Court

Docket No: 01-05-01110-CV

Case Date: 12/28/2006

Plaintiff: Koty Holmes

Defendant: The State of Texas--Appeal from 262nd District Court of Harris County

Preview:Lucille R. Kelley v. Texas Workforce Commission,
Diane D. Rath, Chair Commissioner, Ron Lehman,
Commissioner, Ronald G. Congleton, Humble ISD, Dr
Mary Widmire and Alicia Boston-Mace--Appeal from
80th District Court of Harris County
Opinion issued December 28, 2006
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
NO. 01-05-01110-CV
LUCILLE R. KELLEY, Appellant
V.
TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION; DIANE D. RATH, CHAIR; RON LEHMAN, COMMISSIONER; RONALD
G. CONGLETON, COMMISSIONER; HUMBLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT; DR. MARY WIDMIER;
AND ALICIA BOSTON-MACE, Appellees
On Appeal from the 80th District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 2004-41517
MEMORANDUM OPINION
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After the Texas Workforce Commission ("the Commission") denied appellee Lucille R. Kelley's applications (claim
numbers 551552 and 551569) for unemployment benefits, Kelley sought judicial review of the Commission's decisions
in Harris County district court. The Commission filed a plea to the jurisdiction, which the trial court granted. This
appeal followed. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. 51.014(a)(8) (Vernon Supp. 2006). We affirm.
BACKGROUND
A party seeking judicial review of a Commission decision must bring her action not later than 14 days after the
Commission's decision becomes final. Tex. Lab. Code Ann. 212.201(a) (Vernon 1996). A Commission decision
becomes final 14 days after it is mailed to the parties. Id. 212.153 (Vernon 1996).
Claim numbers 551552 and 551569
The Commission mailed its final decision in claim numbers 551552 and 551569 on July 27, 2004. Thus, the decision in
these claims became final 14 days later, on August 10, 2004. Accordingly, Kelley was required to seek judicial review
of the Commission's decision in these claims by August 24, 2004--14 days after the Commission's decision became
final.
Kelley's Lawsuit
Kelley's suit for judicial review was filed on August 4, 2004. The suit did not name Humble Independent School
District ["the District"] as a defendant, even though the District, Kelley's former employer, had been a defendant in the
earlier proceedings before the Commission. On December 20, 2004, Kelley amended her petition to include the District
as a defendant.
The Plea to the Jurisdiction
The Commission filed a plea to the jurisdiction contending (1) that Kelley's August 4, 2004 petition did not properly
invoke the jurisdiction of the trial court because it failed to name the District as a defendant, and (2) that Kelley's
attempt to amend her petition on December 20, 2004, came too late. The Commission's plea is based upon section
212.201 of the Texas Unemployment Act, which provides:
(a) A party aggrieved by a final decision of the commission may obtain judicial review of the decision by bringing an
action in a court of competent jurisdiction for review of the decision against the commission on or after the date on
which the decision is final, and not later than the 14th day after that date.
(b) Each other party to the proceeding before the commission must be made a defendant in an action under this
subchapter.
Tex. Lab. Code Ann. 212.201 (Vernon 1996). The trial court granted the Commission's plea to the jurisdiction.
PLEA TO THE JURISDICTION
Whether a district court has subject-matter jurisdiction is a question of law, which we review de novo. Mayhew v.
Town of Sunnyvale, 964 S.W.2d 922, 928 (Tex. 1998).
Is section 212.201 jurisdictional?
We must begin our analysis by first determining whether compliance with the provisions of section 212.201 is
jurisdictional. Failure of a party to comply with statutory requirements is not necessarily an absolute bar to review of
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an agency determination. Dubai Petroleum Co. v. Kazi, 12 S.W.3d 71, 76 (Tex.2000), (overruling Mingus v. Wadley,
115 Tex. 551, 285 S.W. 1084 (1926)). Some statutory prerequisites, however, remain jurisdictional. Sierra Club v.
Texas Natural Res. Conservation Comm'n, 26 S.W.3d 684, 687 (Tex. App.--Austin 2000), aff'd on other grounds, 70
S.W.3d 809 (Tex. 2002).
In Heart Hosp. IV v. King, the Austin Court of Appeals held that section 212.201 of the Labor Code is a "jurisdictional
statutory prerequisite and a party's failure to comply with it deprives the trial court of jurisdiction to review the
Commission's decision." 116 S.W.3d 831, 835 (Tex. App.--Austin 2003, pet. denied). The court reasoned that section
212.201 "defines and restricts" the kind of cases a district court may hear because a "district court is generally without
jurisdiction to review the agency's decision unless and until the plaintiff files a petition for judicial review within the
statutorily prescribed 14 days." Id. Likewise, this Court, citing Heart Hospital, has held that a similar provision of the
Labor Code is jurisdictional. See Carrington v. Tex. Workforce Comm'n, No. 01-04-00424-CV, 2006 WL 66455, *2
(Tex. App.--Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 12, 2006, no pet.) (holding 14-day deadline for appealing initial denial of benefits
determination, found in section 208.23 of Labor Code, to be jurisdictional).
Did Kelley comply with section 212.201?
Having determined that the provisions of section 212.201 are jurisdictional, we next must decide whether Kelley
complied with section 212.201 when she filed her petition for judicial review.
We have already stated that Kelley was required to seek judicial review of the Commission's decision in claim number
487871 by August 24, 2004--14 days after the Commission's decision became final. Kelley's petition for review was
filed on August 4, 2006. As such, Kelley's petition for review appears to meet the 14-day requirement for filing a
petition for judicial review.
However, Kelley's August 4, 2004 petition did not name the District as a party. As such, Kelley's August 4, 2004
petition does not meet the requirements of section 212.201(b), which requires that all parties to the proceedings before
the Commission be named as defendants in the petition for judicial review.
Kelley, however, argues that her December 20, 2004 amended petition cures this pleading defect. We disagree. "[I]f an
employer who was a party to the proceedings before the Commission was not made a defendant within the statutory
time limit, the petition may not be amended thereafter to cure the jurisdictional defect." Wren v. Tex. Employment
Comm'n, 915 S.W.2d 506, 509 (Tex. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1995, no writ).
In Heart Hospital, the plaintiff, like the plaintiff here, filed his petition for judicial review within 14 days. 116 S.W.3d
at 835. However, also like the plaintiff here, he did not comply with other requirements of the Labor Code. Here,
Kelley did not join all defendants as required by section 212.201(b). In Heart Hospital, the plaintiff timely filed his
petition, albeit in the wrong county, a violation of Tex. Lab. Code Ann. 212.204 (Vernon 1996). Id. When the plaintiff
in Heart Hospital finally filed his petition in the correct county, the 14-day deadline for filing had passed and the trial
court then lacked jurisdiction. Id. Likewise, in this case, by the time Kelley amended her petition to name the District
as a party, the 14-day deadline, which we have held to be jurisdictional, had long since passed.
Because Kelley did not amend her petition until December 20, 2004--almost four months after the statutory deadline
for filing a petition for judicial review had passed--her attempted amendment comes too late. Accordingly, the trial
court did not err in granting the Commission's plea to the jurisdiction as it relates to claims 551552 and 551569.
CONCLUSION
We hold that the requirements section 212.201 of the Labor Code are jurisdictional prerequisites for seeking judicial
review. Because Kelley failed to timely amend her petition for judicial review of claim within the 14-day time frame
set forth in this section, the district court was without jurisdiction to consider her cause. Accordingly, we affirm the
judgment of the trial court.
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Sherry Radack
Chief Justice
Panel consists of Chief Justice Radack and Justices Alcala and Bland.
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