What Happens If I Miss A Filing Deadline In My Case?
Equitable tolling is a legal doctrine that can be used as a remedy in limited
circumstances to extend filing deadlines. The Legislature usually lacks leniency when it comes to
timely filings, so the only equitable defense under Ch. 120 Administrative Procedure Act is the
Doctrine of Equitable Tolling. This means that petitions that are filed after the 21 day time period
are usually considered a waiver of rights to an administrative hearing unless this defense
applies.
History of Equitable Tolling in Florida
Equitable tolling was established in the Supreme Court through Urie v. Thompson, where
they found it unjust that a plaintiff’s case was dismissed because the statute of limitation ran its
course before the plaintiff was even aware of what caused their injury. The Florida Supreme
Court adopted Urie through their holding of City of Miami v. Brooks, holding that the statute of
limitation can begin running when a plaintiff has been put on notice of their right to a cause of
action. Florida courts have extended this defense to both administrative and civil proceedings in
limited circumstances. In terms of administrative proceedings, the case of Machules v.
Department of Administration followed a state employee’s termination who was offered a 21 day
period to file a petition for an administrative hearing. He sought relief through the union’s
grievance process instead of appealing his termination and was rejected. The union requested
that the Administrative Commission toll the time despite the intent to dismiss the petition as
untimely and the Florida Supreme Court answered in the affirmative as Machules was misled
through the procedure. Since this, Florida courts have continued to utilize Machules in
administrative law proceedings to promote justice. This case paved the way for equitable tolling
to be used as relief to challenge untimely filings within administrative agency action in the
allotted 21 day time period laid out by Florida Administrative Code.
When does equitable tolling apply?
Equitable tolling is only applicable in certain circumstances. To ensure that one of the
elements of equitable tolling applies, the court asks the following questions: 1) whether the
party was misled or lulled into inaction, 2) whether the affected party was in some way
prevented from asserting their rights, or 3) whether the affected party asserted their rights in the
wrong forum. If the court holds that sufficient evidence is presented to meet the burden of proof
for one of these three circumstances, the filing deadline is extended.
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It should be noted that I am not your lawyer (unless you have presently retained my services through a retainer agreement). This post is not intended as legal advice, it is purely educational and informational, and no attorney-client relationship shall result after reading it. Please consult your own attorney for legal advice. If you do not have one and would like to retain my legal services, please contact me using the contact information listed above.
All information and references made to laws, rules, regulations, and advisory opinions were accurate based on the law as it existed at this time, but laws are constantly evolving. Please contact me to be sure that the law which will govern your business is current. Thank you.
