Equitable tolling in administrative law allows a person to file a claim even if they missed the deadline because they didn’t know about it or were prevented from filing on time. In Florida, this doctrine has been applied when a person was misled or prevented from asserting their rights. In a specific case, a person was given 21 days to file a petition but sought relief through a different process first. After the Department of Insurance rejected Machules’ grievance, his union tried to extend the deadline for filing an appeal. The Administration Commission said no and dismissed the appeal, but the Florida Supreme Court said that federal rules about extending deadlines should apply in this case. After that decision, a court said that someone else’s appeal should have been accepted even though it was filed a day late. In one case, a court reversed a decision to dismiss a petition for hearing because the attorney had been told by a government employee that the petition only needed to be mailed within 21 days, not filed. In another case, the court refused to reverse a decision to deny a hearing because the petition was mailed on the 21st day but not received until four days later. One judge thought the decision was fair, while another judge disagreed and thought the 21-day rule should be more flexible. In a third case, a court reversed a decision to revoke an alcohol license because there was confusion about a hearing and the licensee’s counsel had been told the conference was canceled. In a few court cases, the judges had to make decisions about whether late filings should be considered. In one case, the court sent a case back for more evidence to decide if a late filing should be excused. In another case, the court said that a late filing couldn’t be excused because of the rules in place. And in another case, the court said that a hearing should be held to decide if a late filing could be excused because the person had been misled. In 1996, there were changes to the law that governs how citizens can participate in decisions made by government agencies and how those decisions can be reviewed by the courts. In the case Life Care Centers v. Sawgrass Care Center, the court had to decide if new rules about administrative hearings should apply to cases already in progress. The court said the new rules did apply. The new rules required that petitions for administrative hearings be done on time and follow certain requirements, or they would be dismissed. This was different from the old rules, which did not require dismissal if a petition was late. The new rules also required agencies to have the same procedures for administrative hearings, unless they got special permission. The rules say you have 21 days to ask for a hearing if you disagree with a decision from a government agency. But sometimes, if there’s a good reason for being late, the court might still let you have a hearing. This happened in a case where a person filed late, but the court said they should still get a hearing. Another case involved a government agency denying a petition just because it was filed late, but the court said the agency didn’t have the right to do that. The court said that Mathis didn’t miss a deadline or fail to do something he was supposed to do. They also said that Mathis wasn’t trying to start a new process, he just wanted closure on the current one. In another case, the court upheld a decision that said the time limits for starting a legal process are important to make sure that decisions are final. They also said that there was enough evidence to support the decision. In conclusion, even though the legislature says untimely petitions for hearings shouldn’t be considered, there are still opportunities to challenge agency action through equitable tolling, which may excuse a late petition. Equitable principles have other applications in administrative law as well. This information was provided by Ross Stafford Burnaman, an attorney with the Florida Department of Community Affairs.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/equitable-tolling-in-florida-administrative-proceedings/
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