Conti v. Board of Appeals

PER CURIAM. This appeal involves a dispute between the Board of Appeals of the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, a unit within that department, and the Secretary of the department. Following an audit, the Secretary, in accordance with Maryland Code, § 8-602(a) of the Labor and Employment Article, determined that certain sales agents of America’s Energy Savers Home Improvement, Inc. were covered employees for purposes of the Unemployment Insurance Law rather than independent contractors. The company appealed that decision to the Board of Appeals, which held that the sales agents were independent contractors and thus reversed the decision of the Secretary.

The Secretary, who is responsible for assessing and collecting contributions by employers to the Unemployment Insurance Fund, was a statutory party to the proceeding before the board. § 8-602(c). Aggrieved by the board’s decision, the Secretary sought judicial review of it in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Upon the board’s motion, the court dismissed the Secretary’s petition, holding that the Secretary had no standing to seek judicial review. The Secretary appealed that judgment to the Court of Special Appeals, and, on our own initiative, we granted certiorari to consider what we thought was an important public issue. ⁴⁶¹ As it turns out, the issue that we thought was important is not only not important but it is not even necessary to