Yang v. Fink

Summary

The Hawai‘i Intermediate Court of Appeals affirmed a circuit court judgment upholding the Hawai‘i Labor Relations Board’s dismissal of Henry Y. Yang’s prohibited practice complaint against the Department of Health. The court held that the complaint was untimely under the 90-day filing period in Hawai‘i Revised Statutes § 377-9 because Yang knew of the relevant actions by July 1, 2011, but did not file until November 25, 2011. The court also concluded that the Hawai‘i Labor Relations Board’s seven-and-a-half-year delay in issuing its final order did not deprive Yang of constitutional due process because the record did not show resulting prejudice.

Holdings

1. In a secondary appeal under Hawai'i Revised Statutes § 91-15, the appellate court applies the standards in § 91-14(g) directly to the agency's decision, based on the certified agency record.
2. Yang's prohibited practice complaint was time-barred because he knew or should have known of the relevant Department of Health actions by July 1, 2011, but did not file until November 25, 2011, beyond the ninety-day period in Hawai'i Revised Statutes § 377-9(l).
3. Yang was not deprived of procedural due process by the HLRB's seven-and-a-half-year delay in issuing its final order because the record did not show that the delay prejudiced him.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the HLRB correctly dismissed Yang's prohibited practice complaint as untimely under Hawai'i Revised Statutes § 377-9(l).
2. Whether the HLRB's seven-and-a-half-year delay in issuing its final order deprived Yang of constitutional procedural due process.
3. Whether the Intermediate Court of Appeals should review the circuit court's alleged errors or apply the Hawai'i Administrative Procedure Act standards directly to the HLRB's decision.

Disposition

affirmed