Jones v. State ex rel. Office of Juvenile Affairs

11 The first impression issue presented here is whether the provisions of the Oklahoma Standards for Drug and Alcohol Testing Act (SWDATA), 40 0.8. §§ 551-568 permit a classified state employee to file an action in district court prior to the exhaustion of administrative remedies. We hold that SWDATA provides an independent cause of action which authorizes a classified state employee to file an action in the district court for a wilful violation of the act without first exhausting the employee's administrative remedies.

FACTS

T2 The plaintiff/appellant, Mary Roshawn Jones (Jones/employee), was a full-time, classified employee of the defendant/appellee, Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA/employer), working at the LE. Rader Center (Center). On May 8, 2007, Jones was bitten by a spider while at work. On May 8, 2007, Jones sought medical treatment for the spider bite, at the Center. Jones and Linda R. Flood, R.N., an employee of the Center, signed a Document entitled "Employee Accident Evaluation Report" and attached to this form was "An Authorization to Treat Form." 1 The box on the form indicating that drug testing was required was blank. On May 17, 2007, Jones signed the OJA Report and Review of Job-Related Accidental Injury or Illness. Employee checked the "no" box on the form when asked if she was asked to submit to a drug test as a result of this accident.

183 The time lines of the actions of both employee and employer from Jones' return to work until she took a drug test on June 26 are convoluted. The OJA alleges that they repeatedly tried to get Jones to complete paperwork relating to her work-related injury. The OJA also alleges that Jones' delay in completing the paperwork resulted in the delay in requesting the drug test. The deposition of the OJA risk manager, Thomas Micah, states that the reason Jones was required to be drug tested was because she sought medical treatment for the spider bite.2 Jones alleges that the reason for the required drug test were a series of harassing and threatening calls to the Center by a former boyfriend.

T4 On June 26, 2007, at 1:80 p.m., the employee was told to report to Concerta, an approved Board of Health drug sample collection facility. The records of Concerta indicate that Jones gave four urine samples, but they were all insufficient for testing. She could not provide a sufficient test sample within the requisite time period and left the testing facility.3 Jones states that she had drug tests on June 27, 2007, and June 29, 2007, and that both were negative.

15 On July 20, 2007, Ms. Jones received Notice of Proposed Action-Discharge. After an OJA hearing, the employee was discharged, effective August 15, 2007. She filed no administrative appeal from the discharge with the Merit Protection Commission.

T6 On January 14, 2008, Jones filed a civil case, alleging violations of 40 O.S. Supp.1993 § 551 et seq.; she sought compensatory and punitive damages and lost wages, or, in the alternative, restoration to employment. The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted on June 30, 2009. The trial court, in part,4 based this decision *75on Jones failure to exhaust her administrative remedies. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the trial court, holding that if an employer provides an administrative remedy, then the employee must exhaust all of the employer's internal administrative remedies before bringing a civil action under SWDA-TA. We granted certiorari to address the exhaustion requirement.

T7 THE OKLAHOMA STANDARDS FOR WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING (SWDATA) DO NOT REQUIRE A CLASSIFIED STATE EMPLOYEE TO EXHAUST ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES PRIOR TO INSTITUTING AN ACTION IN DISTRICT COURT.

T8 Jones did not exhaust her administrative remedies; she brought an action in the district court, seeking compensatory damages, lost wages and punitive damages, or, in the alternative, restoration to employment, alleging a violation of 40 O.S. Supp. 1998 § 563(A) which provides:

A. Any person aggrieved by a wilful violation of the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act may institute a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction within two (2) years of the person's discovery of the alleged wilful violation or of the exhaustion of any internal administrative remedies available to the person, or be barred from obtaining the relief provided for in subsection B of this section. B. A prevailing party may be awarded declaratory or in-junctive relief and compensatory damages which may include, but not be limited to, employment, reinstatement, promotion, the payment of lost wages and other remuneration to which the person would have been entitled and payment of and reinstatement to full benefits and seniority rights. Reasonable costs and attorney fees may be awarded to the prevailing party. [Emphasis added.]

T9 Jones argues that the provisions of 40 0.8. Supp.1993 § 563 permit her to file an action in district court without the prior exhaustion of administrative remedies. She interprets the statute to provide the litigant with a choice between the exhaustion of administrative remedies prior to the filing of a civil action or the filing of an action within two years of the date of the alleged date of the violation of the act without exhausting the administrative remedies.

€ 10 The employer argues that the provisions of 40 O.S. Supp.19983 § 5638 must be construed in tandem with the statutory provisions set forth at 74 0.8. Supp.1995 § 840-6.75 (originally codified in 1984) and the case law that requires the exhaustion of administrative remedies before a discharged classified employee may bring action in the district court.

T 11 The OJA has enacted, pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, a Drug Policy.6 The policy is designed to maintain an alcohol and drug free work environment and to test job applicants and employees for the illegal use of drugs.7 It provides that post accident testing may be required if an employee has sustained a work-related injury.8 An employee's refusal to test is grounds for discipline, up to and including discharge.9 A terminated employee has grievance and appeal rights, as provided by the OJA Rules and the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission.10

*76{12 It has long been established in Oklahoma that exhaustion of administrative remedies is a jurisdictional prerequisite for resort to the courts by an employee of the State when that employee seeks redress under the statutes that govern the discipline and termination of classified state employee.11 The rule requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies is designed to aid in the orderly administration of justice and to prevent transfer to the courts of duties imposed by law on administrative agencies.12 These are well established tenants of the laws relating to the termination of the employment of a classified State employee.

{13 SWDATA. was enacted by the Legislature, almost ten years after the original codification in 1984 of the statute requiring the exhaustion of administrative remedies, 74 0.8. Supp.1995 § 840-6.7. SWDATA is one of numerous Federal and state statutes governing employee drug testing enacted in the 1980's and the 1990's. Drug testing statutes were enacted to balance the employee's constitutional rights and the movement for a drug free workplace.13 SWDATA provides a cause of action open to both public and private employees in the State of Oklahoma if the provisions of the act concerning regulated employee drug testing are wilfully violated.14 SWDATA is designed to protect both the rights of the employer and the rights of the employee. It is a specific act that must be construed alongside the general statutory provisions concerning the termination of classified State employees.

114 Where a matter is addressed by two statutes, one specific and the other general, the specific statute governs over the general provision.15 Title 40 0.8. Supp.1993 § 563(A) is a specific statute granting a public employee the right to bring an action under SWDATA if a wilful violation of rights is alleged. It was passed by the legislature almost ten years after 74 O.S. Supp.1995 § 840-6.7. The provisions of the specific statute granting the state employee a specific right control over the general exhaustion of remedies statute.

115 The intent expressed by the SWDATA language also supports the contention that this is a stand-alone, specific and controlling statute. Intent is ascertained from the whole act in light of its general purpose and objective considering relevant provisions together to give full foree and effect to each.16 The Court presumes that the Legislature expressed its intent and that it intended what it expressed.17 Statutes are interpreted to attain that purpose and end 18 championing the broad public policy purposes underlying them.19 Only where the legislative intent cannot be ascertained from *77the statutory language, i.e. in cases of ambiguity or conflict, are rules of statutory construction employed.20 SWDATA is designed to protect the rights of the employee and the employer when there is employee drug testing. The provisions of 40 O.S. Supp.1993 § 563(A) create an action only when there is a wilful violation of the act. The original title of the act too, reinforces this argument.21 It shows that SWDATA was clearly designed as a stand alone legislative act that was enacted to protect employee rights, not to limit them.22

{16 The Legislature modified 40 O.. Supp.2011 § 568, effective November 1, 2011. The new language is clear and concise and it provides that any person aggrieved by a wilful violation of the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing may bring a civil action within one (1) year of the alleged violation.23 This is clearly an action by the legislature to provide to all employees a specific remedy for a specific statutory violation. The language as to exhaustion of administrative remedies has been removed altogether. The new provisions of *78SWDATA are clearly designed to simply limit the time an action may be brought, as do the old provisions of 40 0.8. Supp.1993 § 568.

T 17 SWDATA offers a cause of action for its wilful violation to employees in both the public and the private sectors of employment. This is a specific cause of action separate from the remedies provided for under the Administrative Procedures Act; the remedies available to Jones under SWDATA, differ from the remedies available to Jones under 74 0.8. Supp.1995 § 840-6.6.24 It is the statement of the Legislature on the rights of an employee, either public or private, when the employer demands the employee's bodily fluids for testing and wilfully violates the statutory requirements for such a demand. It is a specific statute for a specific and limited cireumstance.

[ 18 The employer also argues that the use of the word "or" in 40 O.S. Supp.1998 § 563(A)25 operates only to create a tolling provision to stop the statute of limitations from running and that Jones must still exhaust her administrative remedies prior to commencement of an action in district court. This contention is not supported by the basic rules of statutory construction which require that a statute be given its plain meaning.26 The ordinary and common definition, the plain meaning of the word "or," implies a *79choice of A or B.27 Actions for wilful violation of SWDATA must therefore be filed either within two years of the alleged wilful violation or after the exhaustion of internal administrative remedies.

CONCLUSION

T 19 The version of this statute at the time litigation was commenced is a specific statute enacted after the general statute relating to exhaustion of remedies in classified state employee discharge. The legislative intent, expressed by a reading of the act as a whole and a review of the original title, provides that a state employee may file an action under the act without exhaustion of her administrative remedies, The Act, when read as a whole, offers a specific right of suit in a specific and limited situation.

120 OJA's motion for summary judgment was sustained because the employee failed to exhaust her administrative remedies, We hold that SWDATA, specifically 40 O.S. Supp.1998 § 563 does not require the exhaustion of administrative remedies prior to the filing of an action in district court. We express no opinion on the merits of the cause of action.

CERTIORARI PREVIOUSLY GRANTED; COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS OPINION VACATED; TRIAL COURT REVERSED AND REMANDED.