Mountain Home Beagle Media v. UCBR - Commonealth Court - August 12, 2008
http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/CWealth/out/255CD08_8-12-08.pdf
Employer appeal to UCBR had to be filed on or before August 28th. It was properly held to be late where the employer faxed the appeal and UCBR records showed receipt of the appeal ten (10) days after appeal deadline, despite employer's claim that it had faxed the appeal within the time limits.
The party appealing bears the risk of loss in transmission because it chose facsimile as the method of filing. The regulation, 34 Pa. Code § 101.82 (b)(3)(i), says that "If the faxed appeal is received without a legible date of transmission, the filing date will be the date recorded by the Department appeal office, the workforce investment office or the Board when it receives the appeal." (emphasis added)
"The date and time stamp on the sender’s confirmation sheet is simply not reliable to establish the date of filing by fax with the Board of Review....There is no evidence of fraud, administrative breakdown or non-negligent conduct which would permit the appeal to be filed nunc pro tunc. Moreover, as the imprinted date of receipt on the Department’s fax machine indicates that the Department first received Employer’s appeal on September 6, 2007, and such document is legible, such date is deemed the filing date of the appeal. 34 Pa. Code § 101.82(b)(3)(i). Employer assumed the risks inherent in filing an appeal via fax transmission. The Board properly dismissed Employer’s appeal as untimely."
