Melissa Lee RENDA, Appellant, v. IOWA CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION, Appellee.
No. 08-0428.
Supreme Court of Iowa.
June 4, 2010.
Rehearing Denied July 14, 2010.
DISTRICT COURT JUDGMENT REVERSED AND CASE REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Teresa Baustian, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
HECHT, Justice.
Melissa Renda, an inmate at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility, filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission (ICRC) alleging sexual harassment and retaliation in her employment and housing. The ICRC concluded it did not have jurisdiction to hear Renda‘s complaint because the correctional facility was not a “dwelling,” and, as an inmate, Renda was not an “employee” for purposes of the Iowa Civil Rights Act (the Act). Renda sought judicial review, and the district court affirmed the decision of the ICRC. On appeal, we agree that a correctional facility is not a dwelling for purposes of the Act, but we conclude Renda‘s status as an inmate working within the prison did not necessarily preclude her status as an employee. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
Melissa Renda filed a complaint with the ICRC on June 27, 2007. According to the complaint, Renda began working as a receiving and discharge clerk in November 2005 while she was incarcerated at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility. According to Renda, the clerk position was the most respected and highest paid job within the prison. Shortly after she started working in the receiving and discharge department, officer Jim Ackles, who also worked in the department, began making romantic overtures toward her. In addition to the sexual advances, Ackles also gave her gifts and money in violation of prison policy. At one point, he forced her to forge a property receipt to cover up the fact that he had given her a CD. Ackles threatened to have Renda transferred to the correctional institution in Mitchellville if she reported his conduct to prison authorities.
In June of 2006, Renda was approached by an investigator following up on an anonymous report of Ackles’ inappropriate behavior. Out of fear, Renda refused to talk to the investigator and was punished by being placed in solitary confinement for nine days. After getting out of solitary confinement, she returned to her job but was fired a few days later “on trumped up charges.” Eventually, Renda cooperated with the investigation into officer Ackles’ behavior, and when the investigation was closed, Renda was informed that she was “100% credible” and that her allegations were “founded.” Despite the results of the investigation, Renda became depressed about the ordeal and lost her “level 4 status” because she was irritable to others. She felt ostracized, and she was later denied a job in the recreation department because of the forged property receipt incident.
In her complaint filed with the ICRC, Renda claimed she was discriminated against on the basis of her sex and that she was retaliated against in the areas of employment and housing. The ICRC closed her complaint as “non-jurisdictional” because the complaint did “not allege a ‘discriminatory practice’ as defined by
Renda sought judicial review, and the district court affirmed the decision of the ICRC. Renda appeals.
Judicial review of an agency decision is controlled by the provisions of
The parties disagree about whether subsection (c) or (l) applies to our review of ICRC‘s interpretation of the terms “employee” and “dwelling” as used in the Act. Renda contends
We begin by noting that despite the parties’ articulation of the issue as whether the ICRC has the authority to interpret the Act, we do not view the issue so broadly. The focus of our inquiry is not whether the ICRC has the authority to interpret the entire Act. Rather, we must determine whether the interpretation of the specific terms “employee” and “dwelling” has been clearly vested in the discretion of the commission.
We have not addressed the standard of review of statutory interpretation by the ICRC subsequent to the amendment and clarification of
[i]n reviewing an administrative agency‘s interpretation of a statute, this court may give some weight to the agency‘s determination, but “the meaning of a statute is always a matter of law, and final construction and interpretation of Iowa statutory law is for this court.” Our review in this case, however, is not without its limited perimeters. Although construction of this statute is a function of the courts, we have always held that a reviewing court should give appropriate weight to the judgment of the agencies charged with the special duty of administering a particular statute.
Good, 368 N.W.2d at 155 (quoting Schmitt v. Iowa Dep‘t of Soc. Servs., 263 N.W.2d 739, 745 (Iowa 1978)); see also Sommers v. Iowa Civil Rights Comm‘n, 337 N.W.2d 470, 472 (Iowa 1983) (stating that when reviewing the ICRC‘s interpretation of statutory provisions “we may give deference to, but are not bound by,” the ICRC‘s interpretation because “[t]he ultimate interpretation of Iowa statutory law is the province of the supreme court“). We do
The amendments to
Normally, the interpretation of a statute is a pure question of law over which agencies are not delegated any special powers by the General Assembly so, a court is free to, and usually does, substitute its judgment de novo for that of the agency and determine if the agency interpretation of the statute is correct.... But, where the General Assembly clearly delegates discretionary authority to an agency to interpret or elaborate a statutory term based on the agency‘s own special expertness, the court may not simply substitute its view as to the meaning or elaboration of the term for that of the agency but, instead, may reverse the agency interpretation or elaboration only if it is arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, or an abuse of discretion—a deferential standard of review.
Arthur E. Bonfield, Amendments to Iowa Administrative Procedure Act, Report on Selected Provisions to Iowa State Bar Association and Iowa State Government 62 (1998) [hereinafter Bonfield]. Notably,
This means that the reviewing court, using its own independent judgment and without any required deference to the agency‘s view, must have a firm conviction from reviewing the precise language of the statute, its context, the purpose of the statute, and the practical considerations involved, that the legislature actually intended (or would have intended had it thought about the question) to delegate to the agency interpretive power with the binding force of law over the elaboration of the provision in question. Id. at 63.
The question of whether interpretive discretion has clearly been vested in an agency is easily resolved when the agency‘s enabling statute explicitly addresses the issue. For example, in Iowa Ass‘n of School Boards v. Iowa Department of Education, 739 N.W.2d 303 (Iowa 2007), we noted that the enabling statute provided the director of the department of education “shall ... [i]nterpret the school laws and rules relating to the school laws.” Iowa Ass‘n of Sch. Bds., 739 N.W.2d at 307 (alterations in original) (quoting
However, because the legislature does not usually explicitly address in legislation the extent to which an agency is authorized to interpret a statute, most of our cases involve an examination of the phrases or statutory provisions to be interpreted, their context, the purpose of the statute, and other practical considerations to determine whether the legislature intended to give interpretive authority to an
Our first occasion to examine whether an agency had been granted the authority to interpret a statute under the amended
We have reached similar conclusions in several more recent cases. In Auen v. Alcoholic Beverages Division, 679 N.W.2d 586, 590 (Iowa 2004), we concluded the division had been vested with the authority to interpret the phrase “directly or indirectly being interested in the ownership” of another licensee. We again relied on the division‘s rulemaking authority and the necessity of interpreting that phrase in conducting the division‘s work. Auen, 679 N.W.2d at 590. Likewise, ABC Disposal Systems addressed whether the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had the authority to interpret the term “sanitary disposal project.” 681 N.W.2d at 602. Because the DNR had the authority to establish rules “relating to the establishment and location of sanitary disposal projects,” we concluded the legislature had clearly vested the authority to define what constituted a “sanitary disposal project.” Id. (quoting
Whether information is confidential is not informed by the expertise of the board, but rather focuses on the interests of the parties. The legislature did not give the board the discretion to determine what information is, and is not, confidential.
Our review of authorities on this subject has confirmed our belief that each case requires a careful look at the specific language the agency has interpreted as well as the specific duties and authority given to the agency with respect to enforcing particular statutes. It is generally inappropriate, in the absence of any explicit guidance from the legislature, to determine whether an agency has the authority to interpret an entire statutory scheme. As we have seen, it is possible that an agency has the authority to interpret some portions of or certain specialized language in a statute, but does not have the authori-
We also think certain guidelines have become evident that may inform our analysis of whether the legislature has clearly vested interpretative authority with an agency. We note that when the statutory provision being interpreted is a substantive term within the special expertise of the agency, we have concluded that the agency has been vested with the authority to interpret the provisions. See City of Coralville, 750 N.W.2d at 527 (provisions relating to the regulation of public utility rates and services); Thoms, 715 N.W.2d at 11–12 (provisions relating to the calculation of retirement benefits); ABC Disposal, 681 N.W.2d at 602 (sanitary disposal project). When the provisions to be interpreted are found in a statute other than the statute the agency has been tasked with enforcing, we have generally concluded interpretive power was not vested in the agency. See, e.g., Lange, 710 N.W.2d at 247 (department of revenue‘s interpretation of generally applicable statutory rule of evidence); Mosher, 671 N.W.2d at 509 (department of inspections and appeals’ interpretation of dependant adult abuse provisions). When a term has an independent legal definition that is not uniquely within the subject matter expertise of the agency, we generally conclude the agency has not been vested with interpretative authority. See Iowa Land Title Ass‘n, 771 N.W.2d at 401–02 (“hardship” and “public interest“); Pub. Employees Relations Bd., 744 N.W.2d at 359–60 (“willful” and “nonwillful“); Doe, 733 N.W.2d at 708 (“confidential“); Insituform, 728 N.W.2d at 800 (“willful“).
Turning to the case at hand, we first note that the Act does not explicitly grant the agency the authority to interpret the terms “employee” and “dwelling.” We must then determine, after reviewing “the precise language of the statute, its context, the purpose of the statute, and the practical considerations involved,” if we are firmly convinced that “the legislature actually intended (or would have intended had it thought about the question) to delegate to the agency interpretive power with the binding force of law over the elaboration” of the terms. Bonfield at 63.
We are not convinced the legislature intended to vest the ICRC with authority to interpret the terms at issue here. Both terms have specialized legal meaning and are widely used in areas of law other than the civil rights arena. The fact that the parties rely on definitions of these terms from various other substantive areas of law indicates the interpretation of these terms is not within the special expertise of the ICRC. The commission itself, when defining the terms and rejecting Renda‘s claims, relied on definitions of the terms gleaned from other areas of law, including Iowa workers’ compensation statutes, Iowa unemployment compensation statutes, statutes pertaining to the department of corrections, the Federal Fair Housing Act, Federal Cable Communications Act, and Colorado penal statutes. Given the commission‘s need to examine such far-ranging legal sources to interpret these terms, we are not convinced that “employee” and “dwelling” are specialized terms within the expertise of the agency. Rather, these terms have specialized legal definitions that extend beyond the civil rights context and are more appropriately interpreted by the courts. Accordingly, we do not give deference to the agency‘s interpretation and will substitute our judgment for that of the commission if we conclude the ICRC
III. Discussion.
The ICRC concluded it did not have jurisdiction over Renda‘s complaint because it did “not allege a ‘discriminatory practice’ as defined by
A. Is a Prison a “Dwelling“?
The Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of a person‘s sex with respect to housing.
rules of statutory construction. We “avoid strained, impractical or absurd results.” Sommers, 337 N.W.2d at 472 (quoting Franklin Mfg. Co. v. Iowa Civil Rights Comm‘n, 270 N.W.2d 829, 831–32 (Iowa 1978)). Usually, we will give an ordinary meaning to the language, “but the manifest intent of the legislature will prevail over the literal import of the words used.” Id. at 472–73. If the language is clear and plain, we will not utilize construction. Id. at 473. We “look to the object to be accomplished and the evils and mischiefs sought to be remedied in reaching a reasonable or liberal construction which will best effect its purpose rather than one which will defeat it.” Id. All parts of the statute will be considered together, and we will not give undue importance to any single portion. Id.
The ICRC determined that a prison is not a dwelling by relying on a decision from a federal district court case which determined that a jail was not a dwelling for purposes of the Fair Housing Act. While interpretations of the Fair Housing
Renda directs us to various federal cases which interpret what constitutes a dwelling for purposes of the Fair Housing Act. She argues the term “dwelling” has been interpreted broadly to include a wide range of nontypical residences. The types of facilities that have been determined to constitute dwellings for purposes of the Fair Housing Act range from substance abuse treatment facilities to nursing homes, homeless shelters, hospices, and residential schools. See, e.g., Lakeside Resort Enters. v. Bd. of Supervisors, 455 F.3d 154, 160 (3d Cir. 2006) (substance abuse treatment facility); Hovsons, Inc. v. Twp. of Brick, 89 F.3d 1096, 1102 (3d Cir. 1996) (nursing home for disabled elderly people); Turning Point, Inc. v. City of Caldwell, 74 F.3d 941, 945 (9th Cir. 1996) (homeless shelter); United States v. Columbus Country Club, 915 F.2d 877, 881 (3d Cir. 1990) (summer bungalows run by a country club); Lauer Farms, Inc. v. Waushara County Bd. of Adjustment, 986 F. Supp. 544, 559 (E.D. Wis. 1997) (migrant workers’ trailers); La. Acorn Fair Hous. v. Quarter House, 952 F. Supp. 352, 359–60 (E.D. La. 1997) (units in a time-share resort); United States v. Mass. Indus. Fin. Agency, 910 F. Supp. 21, 26 n. 2 (D. Mass. 1996) (residential school for emotionally disturbed adolescents); Baxter v. City of Belleville, 720 F. Supp. 720, 731 (S.D. Ill. 1989) (AIDS hospice).
Renda argues the key to determining whether a facility is a dwelling under the Act is whether the person intends to remain at the facility for more than a brief period of time and whether the person considers the facility a residence to which he or she will return. She argues her residence at the prison is analogous to other residential facilities in that she considers her cell her residence, she returns to it each night, and her stay at the prison is for more than a brief period of time. She claims that facilities that have been found not to constitute dwellings under the Fair Housing Act, such as motels and bed and breakfasts, are distinguishable from the prison on these same grounds. See Schneider v. County of Will, 190 F. Supp. 2d 1082, 1087 (N.D. Ill. 2002); Patel v. Holley House Motels, 483 F. Supp. 374, 381 (S.D. Ala. 1979). A person does not usually intend to stay at a motel or bed and breakfast for an extended period, and a person does not generally consider a motel a residence or home.
Although an inmate such as Renda may consider her cell, and the prison as a whole, her indefinite residence and expect to remain in the prison for an extended length of time, we do not believe those considerations are determinative of whether a prison is a dwelling for purposes of the Act. We agree with the conclusion reached by the court in Garcia v. Condarco, 114 F. Supp. 2d 1158, 1161 (D.N.M. 2000): “[T]here is fundamentally a distinction between a home on the one hand, and a detention facility on the other.” Some facilities are designed and intended to be residential, but a prison “is designed and intended to be a penal facility.” Garcia, 114 F. Supp. 2d at 1161. Our determination of this issue is strongly influenced by the fact that Renda has no choice in her placement at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility, and freedom of choice is crucial to the purposes of the Iowa Civil Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act. Each of these Acts was intended to promote freedom of choice in housing and prohibit discrimination. Id. at 1162; see also Keding, 553 N.W.2d at 307 (noting that the housing provisions of the Iowa Civil Rights Act were patterned on the Fair Housing Act). “The element of freedom of choice is
B. May an Inmate Be an “Employee“?
The Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in employment.
The ICRC, relying on a 1990 opinion of the Attorney General, concluded that
[a]n inmate is not an “employee” within the meaning of the Iowa Civil Rights Act if employed by the State or subdivision of the State but may be an “employee” within the meaning of the statute if employed through the work release or prison industry programs by employers who are otherwise subject to the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
The ICRC and the Attorney General‘s opinion noted that in other worker-related contexts inmates are treated differently and concluded that they should also be treated differently in the civil rights context. See 1990 Iowa Op. Att‘y Gen. 93 (Opinion No. 90-10-3);
The ICRC also points to certain provisions of
[a]n inmate employed in the community under this chapter is not an agent, employee, or involuntary servant of the department of corrections, the board of parole, or the judicial district department of correctional services while released from confinement under the terms of a work release plan. If an inmate suffers an injury arising out of or in the course of the inmate‘s employment under this chapter, the inmate‘s recovery shall be from the insurance carrier of the employer of the project and no proceedings for compensation shall be maintained against the insurance carrier of the state institution, the state, the insurance carrier of the judicial district department of correctional services or the judicial district department of correctional services, and there is no employer-employee relationship between the inmate and the state institution, the board of parole, or the judicial district department of correctional services.
Id.
The ICRC contends these provisions demonstrate the legislature‘s intent to ex-
clude inmates from the definition of “employee.” We disagree because we do not believe the cited provisions in
Both parties cite various federal decisions interpreting Title VII, including several cases involving inmates at federal correctional facilities. Because the Act was modeled after Title VII, we find these decisions instructive, but not controlling. Annear v. State, 419 N.W.2d 377, 379 (Iowa 1988). The ICRC directs our atten-
However, the court in Baker v. McNeil Island Corrections Center, 859 F.2d 124, 128 (9th Cir. 1988), reached the opposite conclusion and determined the fact that the prison has so much control over its inmates actually weighs in favor of considering inmates employees for Title VII purposes. In that case, an inmate alleged he applied for and was denied a job in the prison library because the head librarian did not want “to work with a black man.” Baker, 859 F.2d at 127. The court concluded Baker‘s claim should not have been dismissed on a motion to dismiss because “the court could not be convinced beyond doubt that no set of facts could be proven to entitle Baker to relief.” Id. at 128. While the court did not reach the issue of whether Baker was an employee, it remanded the case for further proceedings because it was possible that an employment relationship could be established on remand. Id. at 129. Other courts have followed the reasoning of Baker, concluding the determination of whether an inmate is an employee must be made on a case-by-case basis rather than with a per se rule. See Moyo v. Gomez, 32 F.3d 1382, 1385 (9th Cir. 1994) (relying on Baker to conclude that inmates may be considered employees if their work can be distinguished from the obligatory on-site prison labor); Walker v. City of Elba, 874 F. Supp. 361, 365–66 (M.D. Ala. 1994) (relying on Baker to conclude that a work-release inmate was entitled to Title VII protections).
The Act was adopted “to eliminate unfair and discriminatory practices in ... employment.” 1965 Iowa Acts ch. 121 (title of act). It was designed to “correct a broad pattern of behavior rather than merely affording a procedure to settle a specific dispute.” Estabrook v. Iowa Civil Rights Comm‘n, 283 N.W.2d 306, 308 (Iowa 1979). When we consider the purposes of the Act and whether they might be achieved when applied to inmates working within a prison, we reach the same conclusion as the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals did when explaining why Title VII might apply in the prison context, even if the Fair Labor Standards Act did not.
Prison is in many ways a society separate from the outside world. Discrimination, however, maintains the same invidious character within the world of the prison and outside of it. Given the broad policies behind Title VII, there would appear to be no reason to withhold Title VII‘s protections from extending inside the prison walls.
Vanskike v. Peters, 974 F.2d 806, 810 n. 5 (7th Cir. 1992). Accordingly, given the broad definition of “employee” utilized in the Act, and the lack of an explicit exception for inmates from the classification of “employee,” along with the evils of employment discrimination the Act seeks to remedy, we conclude the legislature did not intend to exclude inmates from protection against discrimination in employment within the prison.
To assist in determining the similarities between jobs inside and outside the prison, we think it may also be useful to consider how other courts have distinguished between employees and independent contractors for purposes of Title VII. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has explained that when confronted with the issue, “nearly every appellate court has applied a test described as a hybrid of the common-law test and economic realities test.”6 Wilde v. County of Kandiyohi, 15 F.3d 103, 105 (8th Cir. 1994). “Under the hybrid test, the term ‘employee’ is construed in light of general common-law concepts, taking into account the economic realities of the situation.” Id. The hybrid test has been described as an
application of general principles of the law of agency to undisputed or established facts. Consideration of all the circumstances surrounding the work relationship is essential, and no one factor is determinative. Nevertheless, the extent of the employer‘s right to control the “means and manner” of the worker‘s performance is the most important factor to review here, as it is at common
law.... If an employer has the right to control and direct the work of an individual, not only as to the result to be achieved, but also as to the details by which that result is achieved, an employer/employee relationship is likely to exist.
Spirides v. Reinhardt, 613 F.2d 826, 831–32 (D.C. Cir. 1979) (footnotes omitted).
Additional factors relevant for consideration include
(1) The kind of occupation, with reference to whether the work usually is done under the direction of a supervisor or is done by a specialist without supervision; (2) the skill required in the particular occupation; (3) whether the “employer” or the individual in question furnishes the equipment used and the place of work; (4) the length of time during which the individual has worked; (5) the method of payment, whether by time or by job; (6) the manner in which the work relationship is terminated, i.e., by one or both parties, with or without notice and explanation; (7) whether annual leave is afforded; (8) whether the work is an integral part of the business of the “employer“; (9) whether the worker accumulates retirement benefits; (10) whether the “employer” pays social security taxes; and (11) the intention of the parties.
Id. at 832.
Although Renda has not asserted a workers’ compensation claim in this case, this court has addressed the standard for determining whether a worker is employed for purposes of
Although a few of the factors considered in determining whether an employer-employee relationship exists in the Title VII and workers’ compensation contexts may not be applicable in the prison setting, we think most of them are useful and relevant in assessing the similarities between jobs inside and outside the prison, and in determining whether an inmate claiming a violation of
Although Renda asserts on appeal that the circumstances of her prison job bring her comfortably within the definition of “employee,” because the ICRC refused to entertain jurisdiction over her claim, the record does not contain evidence sufficient to allow us to address the issue on appeal.8
Accordingly, we conclude that inmates may be employees for purposes of the Act and the ICRC committed legal error in concluding it had no jurisdiction over Renda‘s complaint.
IV. Conclusion.
We affirm the determination of the district court that the ICRC did not err in determining that the housing provisions of the Act do not apply to inmates housed in a correctional facility. We conclude the ICRC erred in deciding as a matter of law that an inmate could not be considered an employee for purposes of the Act. We therefore affirm in part and reverse in part the district court‘s judgment and remand to the district court for remand to the ICRC for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND CASE REMANDED.
All justices concur except CADY, J., who dissents, and APPEL, J., who takes no part.
CADY, Justice (dissenting).
I respectfully dissent from that portion of the holding of the majority declaring a prison inmate is an employee of the State of Iowa entitled to seek relief under the Iowa Civil Rights Act from discriminatory practices while performing a regularly as-
At the outset, I acknowledge discrimination exists in prisons as it still does in society in general. Moreover, a prison setting in no way excuses the presence of discrimination. Yet, the question is not whether the overarching policies behind the enactment of Iowa‘s civil rights act pertaining to employment discrimination apply to prisons, but whether the legislature intended for the provisions to apply to prisoners engaged in regularly assigned labor. The majority has failed to properly analyze this question and, accordingly, has answered it incorrectly.
The majority first rejects the Iowa Civil Rights Commission‘s interpretation by finding the legislature did not give the commission the power to interpret the meaning of an “employee” under the act. Yet, this conclusion simply aligns the standard of judicial review on appeal. The majority may not be required to give the commission‘s interpretation deference, but courts may nevertheless utilize all agency interpretations as a helpful tool in conducting independent analysis. See PanDa Eng‘g v. Eng‘g & Land Surveying Examining Bd., 621 N.W.2d 196, 198 (Iowa 2001) (recognizing we give weight to an agency‘s statutory interpretation “in areas of the agency‘s expertise“). The majority proceeded to substitute its judgment for that of the commission without pausing to give any thought to the commission‘s interpretation.
More importantly, the majority builds its decision on two false premises that have no foundation in law or logic. These false premises are responsible for the majority‘s faulty conclusion. The majority begins its analysis with the premise that the word “employee” is a broad term and, therefore, must include prison inmates unless there is a “compelling reason” to the contrary. This homespun principle has no support in the law and is totally contrary to our long-standing rule of statutory interpretation that, when a statute does not provide a helpful definition of a disputed term, courts should not imply a meaning that is broader than the common-law definition. See Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Darden, 503 U.S. 318, 322–23, 112 S. Ct. 1344, 1348, 117 L. Ed. 2d 581, 588–89 (1992) (applying test to the term “employee“); see also Harvey v. Care Initiatives, Inc., 634 N.W.2d 681, 685 (Iowa 2001) (“[W]e construe statutory language consistent
The majority next declares, again, without any authority, that the absence of a statutory exception for prison inmates in chapter 216 signals that the legislature intended to include prison inmates within the parameters of chapter 216. This premise totally misses the point of our applicable rules of interpretation and sinks an already distressed analysis.
Under our principles of statutory interpretation, an exception to a statute created by the legislature normally indicates the matter excepted would have been included in the statute absent the exception. River Bend Farms, Inc. v. M & P Mo. River Levee Dist., 324 N.W.2d 460, 462 (Iowa 1982); see also 2A Norman J. Singer & J.D. Shambie Singer, Statutes and Statutory Construction § 47:11, at 333 (7th ed. 2007) (stating the general rule that “statutory exceptions exist only to exempt something which would otherwise be covered“). However, the absence of an exception for a particular matter in a statute, as in this case, does not present the same inference. The absence of an exception may simply signal that the legislature never considered the matter to be covered under the statute in the first place. For example, in 1973, we held the workers’ compensation statute applicable to employees in this state did not include prison inmates working in prison industries, even though they were not specifically excluded from the statute. Frederick, 203 N.W.2d at 798. We found the relationship between the state and its prisoners were, in fact, “the antithesis of voluntary employment,” and inmates were not included in the statute because they were not employees. Id. Subsequently, the legislature amended the workers’ compensation statute to provide for limited workers’ compensation coverage for inmates engaged in special work such as services rendered under a chapter 28E agreement, services rendered for private industry maintained in the prison or under
Under our accepted rules of interpretation, we must accept that our legislature does not include inmates in matters relating to employment without special rules for inclusion. The approach of the majority is contrary to the weight of our rules of interpretation and the clear intent of our legislature.
Lastly, the majority places a great amount of emphasis on the Baker case. Baker v. McNeil Island Corr. Ctr., 859 F.2d 124 (9th Cir. 1988). The holding is a minority position, and the case can be distinguished from this case because it dealt with a voluntary work assignment.
Notwithstanding, the multifactor test ultimately adopted by the majority is misplaced as a means to decide if inmates performing mandated labor within the walls of a prison for no wage are employees. See
The majority has analyzed the issue in this case without following our rules of interpretation and has reached a conclusion that is clearly contrary to the intent of our legislature. For that reason, I respectfully dissent. Our role of interpreting statutes is too important to take the approach followed by the majority.
Martin L. WATERS and Leslie Waters, Appellees, v. STATE of Iowa, Appellants.
No. 08-1258.
Supreme Court of Iowa.
June 25, 2010.
Rehearing Denied July 14, 2010.