Summary
The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department reversed an Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board decision denying Matthew R. Cerick's application to reopen a default decision. The court held that the Board abused its discretion because the claimant and employer had jointly requested an adjournment based on a tentative settlement and reasonably believed that they were not required to appear. The matter was remitted to the Board for consideration on the merits.
Court
Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department
Jurisdiction
New York
Decision date
September 18, 2014
Docket number
518365
Disposition
reversed_and_remanded
Questions Presented
- Whether the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board abused its discretion by denying claimant's application to reopen the August 2011 default decision.
- Whether the circumstances surrounding the jointly requested adjournment established good cause for claimant's failure to appear at the hearing.
Holdings
- A party seeking to reopen a default decision must demonstrate good cause for the default, and the determination whether to reopen is reviewed for abuse of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board's discretion.
- Claimant demonstrated good cause because claimant's counsel and the employer's counsel jointly requested an adjournment based on a tentative settlement, and both sides reasonably, though mistakenly, assumed that appearing at the hearing was unnecessary; the Board therefore abused its discretion by refusing to reopen the default decision.
Court Document
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