Dorothy Slaughter, Appellant v. CCG Enterprises, Inc., D/B/A Burger King and Division of Employment Security, Resondents

This slip opinion is subject to revision and may not reflect the final opinion adopted by the Court. Opinion Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Style: Dorothy Slaughter, Appellant v. CCG Enterprises, Inc., D/B/A Burger King and Division of Employment Security, Resondents Case Number: ED83265 Handdown Date: 09/16/2003 Appeal From: Labor and Industrial Relations Commission Counsel for Appellant: Dorothy Slaughter, Pro Se Counsel for Respondent: Gateway Candy Corp., Pro Se Opinion Summary: Dorothy Slaughter appeals the labor and industrial relations commission's decision denying her unemployment benefits. DISMISSED. Division Five holds : This Court lacks jurisdiction to consider Slaughter's appeal. Her notice of appeal to this Court was untimely, and there is no mechanism for allowing Slaughter to seek a special order for leave to file an untimely appeal. Citation: Opinion Author: Sherri B. Sullivan, Chief Judge Opinion Vote: DISMISSED. Mooney and Draper, III, JJ. concur Opinion: Dorothy Slaughter (Claimant) appeals the decision of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (Commission) denying her application for unemployment benefits. Because we find Claimant's notice of appeal is untimely, we dismiss the appeal. After Claimant filed a claim for unemployment benefits, a deputy determined she was disqualified from receiving them

because she left her work voluntarily without good cause attributable to her work or employer. She appealed to the Appeals Tribunal, which sent her notice of a telephone hearing. Claimant failed to follow the instructions on the notice of telephone hearing and did not call to provide a telephone number where she could be reached. As a result, the Appeals Tribunal dismissed her appeal. Claimant then sought review by the Commission, which affirmed the decision of the Appeals Tribunal. The Secretary of the Commission certified that she mailed a copy of the Commission's decision to Claimant on June 23, 2003. Claimant filed a notice of appeal to this Court on July 31, 2003. An aggrieved party has twenty days to appeal a final decision of the Commission. Section 288.210. (FN1) The Commission's decision becomes final ten days after the date it is mailed to the parties. Section 288.200.2. Here, the Secretary for the Commission mailed its decision to Claimant on June 23, 2003. The decision became final ten days later on July 3, 2003. Section 288.200.2. Therefore, Claimant's notice of appeal was due on July 23, 2003. Section 288.210. Claimant's notice of appeal, which was filed on July 31, 2003, was untimely under section 288.210. The Division of Employment Security (Division) has filed a motion to dismiss Claimant's appeal because it is untimely. Claimant has failed to file a response. An untimely notice of appeal in an unemployment case deprives this Court of jurisdiction to entertain the appeal. Mathis v. St. Louis County Health , 84 S.W.2d 524, 525 (Mo. App. E.D. 2002). In addition, Section 288.210 fails to make any provision for filing a late notice of appeal. Id.; McCuin Phillips v. Clean-Tech , 34 S.W.3d 854, 855 (Mo. App. E.D. 2000). The Division's motion to dismiss is granted and the appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Footnotes: FN1. All statutory references are to RSMo. 2000, unless otherwise indicated.

Separate Opinion: None This slip opinion is subject to revision and may not reflect the final opinion adopted by the Court.