STATE OF WISCONSIN
LABOR AND INDUSTRY REVIEW COMMISSION
P O BOX 8126, MADISON, WI 53708-8126 (608/266-9850)

NASHAAT A ABUDOOH, Complainant

MENARDS, Respondent

FAIR EMPLOYMENT DECISION
ERD Case No. 199900192, EEOC Case No. 26G990560

An administrative law judge (ALJ) for the Equal Rights Division of the Department of Workforce Development issued a decision in this matter. A timely petition for review was filed.

The commission has considered the petition and the positions of the parties, and it has reviewed the evidence submitted to the ALJ. Based on its review, the commission agrees with the decision of the ALJ, and it adopts the findings and conclusion in that decision as its own.

DECISION

The decision of the administrative law judge (copy attached) is affirmed.

Dated and mailed January 28, 2000
abudona.rsd : 125 : 9

/s/ David B. Falstad, Chairman

/s/ Pamela I. Anderson, Commissioner

/s/ James A. Rutkowski, Commissioner

MEMORANDUM OPINION

The complainant, Nashaat AbuDooh, failed to appear for the hearing scheduled by the Equal Rights Division on his complaint of alleged race and national origin discrimination. As a result, the ALJ dismissed his complaint.

The case file shows that notice of the hearing was mailed to AbuDooh at N26 W22129 Glenwood Lane, Waukesha, WI, the address he had provided to the division.

AbuDooh requests a new hearing. AbuDooh states that he did not receive notice of the hearing, that the N26 W22129 Glenwood address is his old address (his parents' address), and that he has a new address. AbuDooh further states that he has received all other mail which has been sent to his old address, and that his parents would have given him any mail promptly.

While another hearing may be granted where a party has shown good cause for failure to appear at the originally scheduled hearing, AbuDooh has not shown good cause for his failure to appear at the hearing. The division's complaint form on which AbuDooh submitted his claim of discrimination specifically advised AbuDooh that he must provide notice of any address change. There is absolutely nothing in the case file which indicates that AbuDooh ever notified the division of his new address, and he does not now claim that he had provided the division notice of his new address.

What AbuDooh apparently suggests is that the division may not have mailed him notice of the hearing. However, the case file indicates that the division did mail notice of the hearing to him, and there is nothing in the file which indicates that said notice was returned by the post office. Thus, assuming AbuDooh indeed did not receive notice of the hearing, what is evident is that his failure to receive notice of the hearing was caused by his failure to provide the division notice of his new address. His failure to appear for the hearing under these circumstances does not constitute good cause for failure to appear.

Accordingly, AbuDooh's request for a new hearing must be denied, and the ALJ's dismissal of his complaint affirmed.

cc: Andrew R. Brown

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