Trachtenberg v. Department of Corrections

The State Personnel Appeals Board (Board) has exclusive jurisdiction to hear civil service employee disciplinary appeals. As an administrative agency, the Board has only the authority delegated to it by the legislature. The legislature did not include attorney fees in the enumerated list of remedies available for Board appeals. Here, a civil service employee sought attorney fees for a successful Board appeal under RCW 49.48.030, which provides for an award of attorney fees when an employee brings an action to recover wages owed. We hold that RCW *49349.48.030 does not apply to state disciplinary…