Plaintiff worked as a casual/seasonal worker from 2015 until she was terminated on October 3, 2021. He worked on an as-needed basis and was not guaranteed hours. After he was terminated, he filed for unemployment benefits. Plaintiff presented his case to an Appeal Referee on November 4, 2021. The Referee determined that the Plaintiff was not entitled to unemployment benefits. The Plaintiff had 10 days to appeal the Referee’s decision. However, the Plaintiff filed her appeal on November 16, 2021. The Plaintiff emailed the appeal but was experiencing Wi-Fi connection issues. The Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board determined that the appeal was untimely. Therefore, the Board did not take the appeal. The Plaintiff requested a rehearing, which the Board denied.
On March 23, 2022, the Plaintiff filed an appeal with the Superior Court. On appeal, the Superior Court “must determine whether the findings and conclusions of the Board are free from legal error” and whether they are “supported by substantial evidence in the record.” Substantial evidence is “such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Absent an abuse of discretion by the Board, the Superior Court will uphold the Board’s determination.
Pursuant to 19 Del. C. §3318(c), a Board’s decision is “deemed to be final unless within 10 days after the date of notification or mailing of such decision further appeal is initiated.” In this case, the Plaintiff had until November 14, 2021, to file his appeal and he filed it on November 16, 2021. The Board found that there was no evidence of Departmental error that prevented the Plaintiff from filing a timely appeal, but instead that the appeal was filed untimely because of Wi-Fi issues.
Therefore, the Court affirmed the Board’s decision and found that the Plaintiff failed to establish that the Board abused its discretion in denying the appeal.
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Faucett v. Unempl. Ins. App. Bd., 2022 WL 3025661, at *1 (Del. Super. Aug. 1, 2022)
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