News & Information

CCH® UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE — 01/19/17

DC court finds ambiguity in Notice of Appeal Rights as to timeliness of appeal filing

An appeal from a denial of benefits was not necessarily untimely where it was filed by email, at 9:34 p.m., exactly 15 days after the decision had been mailed. The court noted that in rejecting the appeal, the ALJ seemed to have relied almost exclusively on information from the OAH's website, which states that an electronic filing received after business hours is considered to be filed the next business day. However, the Notice of Appeal Rights was silent on whether an email sent after business hours would be considered to have been filed the next day, even though the section regarding faxes explicitly stated as much. There was further ambiguity in the notice. A statement that mailed submissions need only be postmarked within the 15-day period could lead to the interpretation that an email with a time stamp within that period would be timely. Further, the notice did not appear to direct the claimant to the OAH's website for additional requirements. Because the ALJ did not make adequate findings on the issue of ambiguity and use those findings to analyze the timeliness of the appeal, the court remanded the matter for further consideration (Michele A. Yates v. Dept. of Treas., D.C. Ct. of App., No. 15-AA-495, November 23, 2016).