Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, March 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This amendment creates a procedure for
requesting briefing and/or oral argument in employment security matters,
updates the provisions pertaining to requests to submit additional evidence to
reflect current practice, deletes provisions pertaining to hearings before the
LIRC that do not reflect current practice, and provides guidelines for what the
LIRC may do upon receipt of an untimely application for review.
(1) Filing.
(A) Any interested party to a decision of an
appeals tribunal of the division may file an application to have the decision
reviewed by the commission by filing the application with the commission or by
filing it with the division, as agent of the commission, within thirty (30)
days following the date of notification or mailing of the decision, as provided
in section
288.200,
RSMo. An application for review shall be signed by the claimant, sole
proprietor, partner or an officer or employee of a corporation. A licensed
Missouri attorney may sign an application on behalf of any interested
party.
(B) In the absence of an
endorsement by the United States Post Office, the application for review shall
be deemed to have been filed on the date received by the division or
commission.
(C) An application for
review filed by facsimile transmission (fax) may be filed at any office of the
Division of Employment Security. An application for review filed by fax that is
received by the division on a regular workday shall be considered as filed on
that day. A fax received on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday will be
considered filed on the next regular division workday. Date and time of receipt
shall be determined by the receiving fax machine. Persons filing by fax shall
retain the receipt with the original document for reference by the commission
if so requested.
(2)
Upon receipt of the application, an acknowledgment of receipt and a copy of the
application will be sent to the last known address of each interested party to
the decision.
(3) An interested
party means-
(A) The claimant, if
any;
(B) Any employer or employing
unit that has filed a timely protest in accordance with section
288.070,
RSMo;
(C) Any employer or employing
unit having a legal interest in any determination made under section
288.130,
RSMo;
(D) Any person, employer or
employing unit having a legal interest in any assessment made under section
288.160,
RSMo; or
(E) The Division of
Employment Security.
(4)
Briefs and Oral Argument. The party filing an application for review (or
"petitioner") may request, in the application, to file a brief. The commission
may, in its discretion, allow or deny briefing in the case. If briefing is
allowed, the commission secretary will provide, via written correspondence to
all parties, a briefing schedule. Unless a modified briefing schedule is
ordered by the commission, the petitioner's brief will be due fifteen (15) days
from the date of the commission secretary's correspondence establishing the
briefing schedule. Respondent briefs or memoranda of law will be due within ten
(10) days after the date of the commission secretary's correspondence
acknowledging the commission's receipt of the petitioner's brief or memorandum
of law. Because of the federal regulations requiring prompt decision-making by
the commission, requests to extend the briefing schedule in employment security
matters are generally disfavored, and will only be granted in extraordinary
circumstances.
(A) All briefs are subject to
the following requirements:
1. Be on paper of
size eight and one-half inches by eleven inches (8 1/2" x 11");
2. Be typed on one (1) side of the
paper;
3. Have a left, right,
bottom, and top margin of not less than one inch (1"). Page numbers may appear
in the bottom margin, but no other text may appear in the margins;
4. Have all pages consecutively
numbered;
5. Use characters
throughout the briefs, including footnotes that are not smaller than thirteen-
(13-) point font, Times New Roman;
6. Be double-spaced; provided, however, that
the cover, if any, certificate of service, and signature block may all be
single-spaced; and
7. Contain a
certificate of service verifying that a copy has been sent to the opposing
party.
(B) The
petitioner's brief shall not exceed thirty (30) pages. A respondent's brief
shall not exceed twenty-five (25) pages. Upon its own motion, or upon motion by
any interested party, the commission may, in its discretion, strike any brief
or portion of a brief that is not filed in accordance with these
rules.
(C) The brief of the
petitioner should contain a fair and concise statement of facts without
argument. The respondent's brief may supplement the statement of facts if
necessary. The briefs should identify the issues in dispute and address those
issues only, state concisely the factual or legal support for the party's
positions, and contain a conclusion in detail as to the decision, award, or
action requested from the commission.
(D) Oral argument may be ordered by the
commission upon its own motion or upon a request set forth in an application
for review or response, if any. Untimely requests for leave to present oral
argument will not be entertained, nor will any request to present oral argument
in lieu of a brief be allowed.
(5) Additional Evidence.
(A) After an application for review has been
filed with the commission, any interested party may request permission to
submit additional evidence. The commission will not consider additional
evidence unless the evidence is newly discovered, or the need for the evidence
could not have been reasonably anticipated before the hearing, or the evidence
could not with reasonable diligence have been produced at the hearing before
the appeals tribunal. The request to submit additional evidence should set out
specifically and in detail-
1. The nature and
substance of the newly discovered evidence;
2. Names of witnesses to be produced;
and
3. Nature of the exhibits to be
introduced.
(B) Before
accepting additional evidence into the record, the commission will send written
notice to all interested parties advising them of the request and allowing an
opportunity to submit to the commission, within fifteen (15) days, written
objection to the request to submit additional evidence. If a timely objection
is received, the commission may issue an order allowing or denying the request
to submit additional evidence, or may order that the appeals tribunal hold a
hearing to permit all interested parties an opportunity for cross-examination
and/or the presentation of rebuttal evidence. If no objections are received
within fifteen (15) days of the commission's notice of the request to submit
additional evidence, the commission may accept the additional evidence into the
record without further notice to the parties. The commission is opposed, as a
matter of policy, to the introduction of additional evidence except when it
considers this action necessary for the furtherance of justice. Therefore, all
available evidence should be introduced at the hearing before the appeals
tribunal.
(6) An
application for review filed more than thirty (30) days from the date of
notification or mailing by the division is untimely. The commission does not
have statutory authority to accept untimely applications for review. However,
if the application for review alleges either that the party filed an earlier,
timely application for review that was not properly acknowledged, or that the
party was deprived due notice of the decision of the appeals tribunal, the
commission may remand the matter for a hearing before the appeals tribunal for
the purpose of taking evidence to determine whether the commission may take
jurisdiction of the appeal.
*Original authority: 286.060, RSMo 1945, amended 1947,
1980, 1995; 288.200, RSMo 1951, amended 1984, 1992, 1996; and 288.230, RSMo
1951.
