D.C. Water and Sewer Authority and Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc. v. District of Columbia Department of Employment Services

Summary

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals reviewed the dismissal of an application for review of a disability compensation order as untimely. The court held that the applicants reasonably relied on an administrative law judge's Errata Order stating that the thirty-day appeal period ran from the filing of the errata, and therefore reversed and remanded for consideration on the merits.

Holdings

1. The application for review was timely because petitioners reasonably relied on the Errata Order's express statement that the application could be filed within thirty days of the errata.
2. The director's dismissal was reversed, and the matter was remanded for disposition of petitioners' application for review on the merits.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the DOES director erred in dismissing petitioners' application for review as untimely when petitioners relied on an administrative law judge's subsequent Errata Order expressly setting a later filing deadline.
2. Whether an agency's clear subsequent notice concerning the appeal deadline prevents the agency from applying the earlier deadline to foreclose administrative review.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded