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Batson v. Shiflett3/12/1992
the issues be actually litigated and necessary to the outcome of the first action.
The rule in Maryland does not differ in any material respect from that adopted by the federal courts. Sugarloaf v. Waste Disposal, 323 Md. 641, 658-59 n. 13, 594 A.2d 1115, 1123-24 n. 13 (1991)
(no preclusive effect given to non-trial type hearing by Air Management Administration of the State Department of the Environment); White v. Prince George's Co., 282 Md. 641, 658-59, 387 A.2d 260, 270 (1978) (preclusive effect given to quasi judicial proceeding of Maryland Tax Court, which is an administrative agency). Recently in Sugarloaf, supra, we stated that:
" t is well settled that the doctrine [of res judicata] is only applicable to agency decisions in which:
'" agency is acting in a judicial capacity and resolves disputed issues of fact properly before it which the parties have had an adequate opportunity to litigate." . . . The threshold inquiry is whether the earlier proceeding is the essential equivalent of a judicial proceeding.'"
323 Md. at 659 n. 13, 594 A.2d at 1123-24 n. 13 (quoting William J. Davis, Inc. v. Young, 412 A.2d 1187, 1194 (D.C.App.1980)). Thus, current Maryland law on the preclusive effect of administrative agency decisions, under principles of res judicata or collateral estoppel, incorporates parallel considerations to those reflected in the Exxon test.
In Ewing v. Koppers Co., 312 Md. 45, 537 A.2d 1173 (1988), we considered a related question. There, an employee who alleged that he was discharged because he had made a worker's compensation claim filed a grievance against his employer under the collective bargaining agreement which fixed the terms and conditions of his employment. The employer denied the employee's allegation, insisting that he had been fired for a number of reasons unrelated to any worker's compensation claim. The collective bargaining agreement provided for the resolution of the grievance by binding arbitration. After a hearing, the arbitrator found in favor of the employer. Shortly thereafter, the employee filed suit for wrongful discharge, alleging that he had been terminated in retaliation for an earlier filing of a worker's compensation claim. The trial court granted summary judgment in the employer's favor. We affirmed on the ground that the decision of the arbitrator that the employee's
discharge was justified by reasons unrelated to his worker's compensation claim precluded any relitigation of that issue in a judicial proceeding. We there commented:
"The general rule suggested by §§ 83 and 84 of the Restatement (Second) of Judgments (1982) is that a valid and final award of arbitration should be given the same res judicata effect as a judgment of a court if the procedure leading to the arbitration award embraced elements of adjudicatory procedure consistent with established principles of due process, and if according preclusive effect would not be incompatible with a legal policy or contractual requirement that the second tribunal be free to make an independent determination. With respect to the procedural requirements of the arbitration proceeding, comment c to § 84 states, in part:
"'When the arbitration procedure leading to an award is very informal, the findings in the arbitration should not be carried over through issue preclusion to another action where the issue would otherwise be subjected to much more intensive consideration.
When arbitration affords opportunity for presentat
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