Frost v. State Personnel Board

In Frost v. State Personnel Board (1961) 190 Cal. App. 2d 1, a state highway patrol employee complained of board action denying him a salary raise and downgrading his position. (Id. at p. 8.) After the employee presented his case to an ALJ, the ALJ submitted to the board a proposed decision to grant a defense dismissal motion on the ground that the employee failed to establish a right to relief by the weight of the evidence. (Id. at pp. 6-7.) The trial court issued a writ of mandamus requiring the board to hold further hearings and decide the case on the merits. (Id. at p. 2.) The Court affirmed, concluding the employee had made a prima facie showing in support of his claim, and therefore the procedural error in entertaining and granting the dismissal motion at the close of the employee's evidence was prejudicial. (Id. at p. 10.) With respect to the procedural error in entertaining and granting a dismissal motion in the nature of a nonsuit, the Court said, "In view of the underlying purpose of the code for administrative procedure which is the expeditious and fair handling of adversary cases before the agencies, in view of the lack of legal training on the part of boards generally, in view of the difficulty of convening boards for the special and limited purpose of passing on such motions, in view of the lack of any prescribed procedure by which such motions are to be reported by the hearing officer to the board, and in view of the probability that the entertainment of such motions would serve no time-saving purpose, but on the contrary would probably lead to a wasteful expenditure of time, it is our opinion that such motions may not be entertained and passed on to the agency boards, at least in proceedings where a hearing officer alone is taking the evidence." (Id. at p. 6.) The Court concluded, "motions based upon want of evidence to make a prima facie case are not an authorized part of administrative procedure," but if such a motion is granted, the question will be whether the procedural error is prejudicial. (Id. at pp. 7-8.) "If it be true that as a matter of law the evidence of respondent did not entitle him to any relief, . . . then we ought not to set aside the order of dismissal . . . ." (Id. at p. 8.) The hearing in Frost was subject to provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. (Frost, supra, 190 Cal. App. 2d 1, 4-5, citing Gov. Code, 11517.)