Labor & Employment Law

Court of Claims lacks jurisdiction to review back pay administrative decision

By Harvey Randall, Esq.

Court of Claims lacks jurisdiction to review back pay administrative decision
Victoria Hoffman v State of New York, 42 A.D.3d 641

Victoria Hoffman, an intensive case manager with the Office of Mental Health at Elmira Psychiatric Center in Chemung County, was served with a notice of discipline seeking her termination. Hoffman was suspended while the matter was pending arbitration.

Ultimately the parties ?entered into a written stipulation of settlement? whereby, among other things, it was agreed that Hoffman would be ?made whole for all back pay, leave and other benefits for the entire period of her suspension.?

In processing the payment for Hoffman?s ?back pay,? the Office of the State Comptroller issued a check for the back pay due Hoffman ?minus the unemployment insurance benefits that she had received during her period of suspension.? Hoffman sued in the Court of Claims, seeking to recover the amount deducted from her check for back pay for ?unemployment insurance benefits.? The Court of Claims, sua sponte, dismiss her claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and Hoffman appealed.

The Appellate Division affirmed the Court of Claim?s action dismissing Hoffman?s petition. The court said that for the Court of Claims to have subject matter jurisdiction, ?the threshold question is [w]hether the essential nature of the claim is to recover money, or whether the monetary relief is incidental to the primary claim.?

Although Hoffman argued that her claim is for breach of contract, the Appellate Division said that its review of the record indicates that she primarily is seeking to annul the Comptroller?s administrative decision to issue a check that deducted the amount of unemployment insurance benefits from her back pay.

While any monetary recovery would be incidental to that determination, ?[t]his is a quintessential example of a dispute governed under CPLR article 78? (id. at 761) and the Court of Claims has no subject matter jurisdiction over this type of dispute.?

Accordingly, the Appellate Division ruled Hoffman?s claim was properly dismissed.

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on April 11, 2008 (boomark / email).