BLANCA E TEJEDA, Employee

MANPOWER, Employer

Pursuant to authority granted in Wis. Stat. § 108.09(6), the Labor and Industry Review Commission sets aside the appeal tribunal decision issued on March 15, 2007, and remands this matter to the hearing office for a hearing and decision on whether the employee had good cause for her failure to appear for the March 12, 2007, hearing in this matter.

Dated and mailed May 31, 2007
tejedbl . upr : 178 : 1  PC 712.9

/s/ James T. Flynn, Chairman

/s/ Robert Glaser, Commissioner

The employer timely appealed an adverse initial determination. Hearing was scheduled for March 12, 2007. The employee-respondent did not appear and the appeal tribunal decision reversed and denied benefits based on the employer's testimony. Within 21 days, the hearing office received an explanation from the employee for her failure to appear. However, instead of setting aside the appeal tribunal decision and considering the reasons or scheduling a hearing, the ALJ wrote the employee a letter denying any further hearing and explaining that the employee's letter would be processed as a petition if she contacted the hearing office before the appeal deadline and requested it. The employee did so.

In Hayford v. Milios Sandwiches, UI Dec. Hearing No. 06004018MD (LIRC Feb. 5, 2007), the commission dealt with a similar case in which a party's explanation for a failure to appear was dealt with in a letter and not by decision. The commission set aside the dismissal appeal tribunal decision and ordered a hearing on the procedural issue. Wis. Stat. § 108.09(4)(e) directs that an appeal tribunal either amend or set aside the original decision to deal with the good cause issue. Therefore, the commission sets aside the appeal tribunal decision and remands for a decision on the employee's failure to appear.

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uploaded 2007/06/04