Opinion
No. 354
05-17-2021
ANGELA ROBINSON v. MAYOR'S OFFICE CITY OF BALTIMORE
Circuit Court for Baltimore County
Case No. C-03-CV-19-004400
UNREPORTED
Graeff, Ripken, Raker, Irma S. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ. PER CURIAM *This is an unreported opinion, and it may not be cited in any paper, brief, motion, or other document filed in this Court or any other Maryland Court as either precedent within the rule of stare decisis or as persuasive authority. Md. Rule 1-104.
In April 2019 a Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (DLLR) claims specialist determined that Angela Robinson, appellant, was ineligible for unemployment benefits. Ms. Robinson appealed that decision. Following an October 17, 2019, hearing, at which Ms. Robinson did not appear, the Chief Hearing Examiner issued a decision dismissing her appeal without right of re-opening. Ms. Robinson did not appeal that decision to the DLLR Board of Appeals. Rather, on November 25, 2019, she filed a petition for judicial review in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. The court granted a motion to dismiss the petition on the grounds that Ms. Robinson had failed to exhaust her administrative remedies. This appeal followed.
In her brief, Ms. Robinson does not contend that the court erred in dismissing her petition for judicial review for failure to exhaust her administrative remedies. Therefore, we need not consider that issue on appeal. Anne Arundel County v. Harwood Civic Ass'n, Inc., 442 Md. 595, 614 (2015) ("[A]rguments not presented in a brief or not presented with particularity will not be considered on appeal." (citation omitted)).
Rather her sole claim is that the Mayor's Office of Baltimore City should "grant [her] unemployment wages." However, because her petition for judicial review was dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, that issue is not properly before us.
Nevertheless, even if the issue had been raised, we would find no error. Section 8-806 of the Labor and Employment Article sets out the procedure for the adjudication of unemployment claims and specifically requires decisions rendered by a hearing examiner to be appealed to the Board of Appeals. Section 8-5A-12(a) of the Labor and Employment Article further provides that only a "party who is aggrieved by a final decision of the Board of Appeals may appeal the decision to a circuit court." Because, Ms. Robinson did not appeal the hearing examiner's decision to the Board of Appeals, she failed to exhaust her administrative remedies. Consequently, the circuit court did not err in dismissing her petition for judicial review. See Secretary, Dept. of Human Resources v. Wilson, 286 Md. 639, 647 (1979) (holding that unemployment claimants that failed to exhaust the statutory remedies set forth in the Labor and Employment article are "precluded from judicial review").
JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR BALTIMORE COUNTY AFFIRMED. COSTS TO BE PAID BY APPELLANT.