Plaintiff filed for unemployment benefits with the Department of Labor (“DOL”) on April 10, 2022. The Claims Deputy found the plaintiff ineligible for benefits because she was not “unemployed” as defined by 19 Del. C Section 3302(17).
Under 19 Del. C Section 3302(17):
An individual is unemployed in any week during which the individual preforms no services and with respect to which no wages are payable to the individual, or in any week of less than full-time work if the wages payable to the individual with respect to such week are less than the individual’s weekly benefit amount plus whichever is the greater of $10 or 50% of the individual’s weekly benefit amount.
The Claims Deputy mailed the Notice of Determination to the Plaintiff on January 1, 2022, advising the Plaintiff that she was ineligible for benefits and that she could appeal the decision within 10 days, which would be on or before July 11, 2022. In this case, the Plaintiff filed an appeal on July 20, 2022. Since the Plaintiff failed to file her appeal before July 11, 2022, the DOL filed a Notice, informing the Plaintiff that the Claims Deputy’s decision was final and binding. On August 30, 2022, the Plaintiff appealed to the Appeals Referee to determine the issue of whether the Plaintiff’s right of appeal was filed in a timely manner. The Referee determined that the appeal was untimely and that the DOL committed no administrative error. The Plaintiff filed a second appeal to the Unemployment Board, who affirmed the referee’s decision on November 4, 2022.
Following the Board’s decision, the Plaintiff appealed to the Superior Court, who only looks at whether or not there was substantial evidence to support the finding of the Board. The Court reviews the Board’s rulings for abuse of discretion and will only disturb the Board’s decision where the Board “acts arbitrarily or capriciously or exceeds the bounds of reason in view of the circumstances and has ignored recognized rules of law or practice so as to produce injustice.” The Court noted that the time for filing an appeal is an express statutory condition of jurisdiction that is both mandatory and dispositive. However, if the delay is caused by an administrative error on the part of the DOL, then the Court could find that the Claims Deputy’s decision is not final.
In this case, the Plaintiff argued that her appeal was filed late because she received the Notice of Determination from the Claims Deputy late. However, since the Plaintiff did not provide any evidence to suggest an error and the Notice of Determination was mailed to the Plaintiff’s address on file, the Board did not find any administrative error on part of the DOL. Further, Notice that is “correctly, stamped and mailed, is presumed to have been received by the party to whom it was addressed.”
Therefore, the Court upheld the Board’s decision and found that the Referee’s decision was supported by substantial evidence and free from legal error. Further, the Court concluded that the Board did not abuse its discretion when it declined to accept the Plaintiff’s appeal for review.
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Scull v. Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, 2023 WL 3364513 (Del. Super, 2023)
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