In New York, it is well settled that the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies requires that where a remedy before an administrative agency is available, relief must be sought by exhausting this remedy before courts will act. The New York Court of Appeals has observed that “hornbook law” provides that “one who objects to the act of an administrative agency must exhaust available administrative remedies before being permitted to litigate in a court of law.” This principle, the court added, furthers the goals of relieving the courts of the burden of deciding questions entrusted to an agency, preventing premature judicial interference with administrators’ efforts to develop a coordinated, consistent, and legally enforceable scheme of regulation, and affording administrators the opportunity, in advance of possible judicial review, to prepare a record reflective of their “expertise and judgment.”1
This general rule also is supported by statutory law. Pursuant to CPLR 7801(1), an Article 78 proceeding may not be used to challenge a determination that can be adequately reviewed by administrative or judicial appeal. As applied to administrative determinations, Section 7801(1) requires one who objects to the act of an administrative agency to first exhaust available administrative remedies before being permitted to litigate in the courts.
