It took a while to receive the decision, but it was well worth the wait.  A client appears for an unemployment compensation hearing as the employer appealed the benefits.  The employer’s key witness, who received a subpoena, failed to appear and failed to provide any reason for not appearing.  During the hearing, the employer tried to elicit hearsay testimony to support their allegations of willful misconduct.  However, the referee correctly excluded the testimony as the witness was not present.  The referee indicated a decision would be forthcoming.  Approximately 2 days later, employee received notice that the hearing was being reopened to allow the witness to testify.

Pursuant to the Board Rules, reopening a case is strictly defined, and in this case imporoper.  However, over objection the referee conducted the hearing and ultimately denied the employee benefits.

Not being discouraged, we filed a review of the referee’s decision to sua sponte, reopen the case and obtained the benefits the employee rightly deserved.  See the Board’s decision below.

If you have an unemployment issue please contact:  Steven C. Townsend

Unemployment Decision