Byrd v. UCBR – Cmwlth. Court - en banc - February 4, 2021 – unreported memorandum decision**
This case has unusual facts but contains some language that might be generally helpful to claimants.
It involves a 2012 UC claim on which DLI paid > $6k in benefits. However, the worker/appellant denies ever having applied for benefits, since she was working during the relevant time period. There may be an identity theft issue in the case.
In 2017 – five years after the claim was open and paid – the Department sent worker a series of notices that raised quesetions about her eligibility. Worker never respond to the notices, because she did not receive them, having moved a number of times since 2012. She eventually found out about the case when DLI entered a lien against her. She then appealed that decision, which was rejected as being late.
The court reversed, granting her the right to appeal beyond the legal time limits, because
- the Department violated its duty to promptly examine claims, sec. 501 (c), 43 P.S. sec. 821 (c).
- there was no presumption that the worker received the Department’s notice of determination, given that it was sent to an incorrect address
Duty of prompt examination of UC claims – delay in issuing determination
Section 501 of the UC Law provides that the Department shall promptly examine each application for benefits. . . 43 P.S. § 821(a) & (b) (italics added).
Here, the Department conducted no examination of the 2012 UC claim other than its 2012 verification of Claimant’s 2011 separation of employment from one employer and its 2017 questionnaire to Employer. . . . . [T]here is no indication that . . . Claimant’s last employer, was provided with notice of her alleged claim for UC benefits as required by Section 501(b) of the UC Law. Thus, there is no indication in the record that the Department attempted to verify Claimant’s alleged separation from Employer in 2012, or at any other time prior to mid-2017. Further, the record contains no explanation by the Department for its five-year delay in pursuing its examination of the claim.
Nunc pro tunc appeals - Nunc pro tunc relief allowing a UC claimant’s untimely appeal may be permitted where the delay in filing the appeal is the result of extraordinary circumstances involving fraud, administrative breakdown, or non-negligent conduct of the claimant or a third party. Mountain Home Beagle Media v. Unemployment Comp. Bd. of Rev., 955 A.2d 484 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2008); see also Rude v. Unemployment Comp. Bd. of Rev. (Pa. Cmwlth., No. 184 C.D. 2010, filed Sept. 20, 2010), slip op. at 3-4, 2010 Pa. Commw. Unpub. LEXIS 640, at *5 (unreported) (citing Cook v. Unemployment Comp. Bd. of Rev., 671 A.2d 1130 (Pa. 1996) and Mountain Home Beagle Media). Negligence by an administrative official may be equivalent to fraud for purposes of justifying nunc pro tunc relief. Rude. . . . (citing Stana v. Unemployment Comp. Bd. of Rev., 791 A.2d 1269 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2002)). Here, Claimant contends the Department was negligent by reason of its five-year delay in issuing the notices of determination. As a result, because Claimant had moved multiple times in the interim, the Department did not provide the requisite notices of its determinations, having mailed them to the wrong address. We agree.
Leavitt, J. – concurring – no duty of claimant to update address after her claim period has ended
Section 501(e) of the UC Law requires a party to appeal after a notice “was mailed to his last known post office address.” 43 P.S. §821(e) (emphasis added). A fair reading of Section 501(e) suggests that a claimant who has an open claim for unemployment benefits may not raise non-receipt of a determination as an excuse for filing an untimely appeal if she failed to notify the Department of her new address.
However, it is a bridge too far to read the term “last known post office address” to signify a mandate that any person who ever interacted with the unemployment compensation system must keep the Department informed of every address change after benefits have ceased, by virtue of the claimant’s return to the workplace, or have been exhausted. It is evident when looking at other statutes that the legislature knows how to impose a duty to report address changes when it wishes. . . . .T]he Unemployment Compensation Law imposes no such duty on an individual who once applied for unemployment benefits. When there is no duty, there can be no negligence. . . . For this reason alone, the Board erred in holding that Claimant was in any way negligent for not updating her address with the Department five years (or more) after she ceased to collect unemployment benefits.
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**An unreported, non-precedential Commonwealth Court case can be cited for its persuasive value but is not binding precedent. See 210 Pa. Code § 69.414(b) and Pa. R.A.P. 3716
