Arteaga v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office

781 P.2d 98, 13 Brief Times Rptr. 14, 1989 Colo. App. LEXIS 9, 1989 WL 401
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 5, 1989
Docket87CA1953
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 781 P.2d 98 (Arteaga v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arteaga v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 781 P.2d 98, 13 Brief Times Rptr. 14, 1989 Colo. App. LEXIS 9, 1989 WL 401 (Colo. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge PIERCE.

Eudesimo Arteaga, claimant, seeks review of a final order of the Industrial Claim Appeals Office (Panel) which disqualified him from the receipt of unemployment compensation benefits. We affirm.

Claimant, a citizen of Mexico, entered the United States illegally in March 1981. He remained in the United States without proper authorization until June 23, 1982, when the petition for him to obtain a visa was approved. On April 16, 1983, he became a legal permanent resident.

On June 23, 1983, claimant separated from his employment with Denver Lamb Company, Inc. (employer), where he had worked during several intervals after mid-1981. On June 23, 1983, claimant also applied for unemployment compensation benefits.

The first issue which arose after claimant filed for benefits was claimant’s monetary eligibility, as an alien, for benefits. Monetary eligibility requires, among other prerequisites, that a claimant have received sufficient wage credit for services performed during a base period. See § 8-73-102, § 8-73-107(l)(e), and § 8-73-104, C.R.S. (1986 Repl.Yol. 3B).

On April 6, 1987, the Colorado Supreme Court, in Industrial Commission v. Arteaga, 735 P.2d 473 (Colo.1987), affirmed this court in concluding that claimant was an eligible alien and, therefore, entitled to wage credit from the date he applied for permanent legal residence and obtained work authorization. The effect of that decision was that any services claimant performed after that date were usable for determining claimant’s wage credits and monetary eligibility. Consequently, claimant would be entitled to benefits based on those services if claimant were otherwise eligible.

While the issue of claimant’s monetary eligibility for benefits was being litigated, employer contested any award of benefits to claimant on the ground that claimant was responsible for his separation because he had walked off the job.

After the supreme court determined that claimant was monetarily eligible for benefits in Industrial Commission v. Arteaga, supra, the Division set claimant’s appeal of his disqualification for hearing on May 18, 1987. On December 10, 1987, the Panel made its non-monetary determination and ruled that claimant was disqualified from the receipt of benefits pursuant to the statutory provision now codified as § 8-73-108(5)(e)(I), C.R.S. (1986 Repl.Vol. 3B).

I.

On review, claimant first contends that the supreme court’s determination of claimant’s monetary eligibility was a complete disposition of claimant’s claim, thereby entitling him to benefits. Among other *100 objections, he argues that both the doctrine of res judicata and the unemployment compensation statutory scheme barred the separate subsequent resolution of claimant’s entitlement to benefits. We disagree.

While the supreme court's decision concerning claimant’s monetary eligibility for benefits was a final disposition of that issue, it was not a final disposition of claimant’s entitlement to benefits or of claimant’s claim. Under the statutory scheme of the Colorado Employment Security Act (CESA), monetary and non-monetary issues are distinct, but equal elements of a claim for unemployment compensation benefits. The criteria for determining the elements are different and the procedures for resolving and appealing the determinations of the issues are distinct. If there are no other grounds for contesting the claim, e.g., employer coverage, then both issues must be determined before there is a complete disposition of the claim.

A monetary determination encompasses many different aspects of claimant’s initial eligibility for benefits, such as whether claimant is able to work, available for work, and actively seeking work, and whether claimant has sufficient qualifying wage credits to support an award of benefits. The basic criteria for determining monetary eligibility are found in § 8-73-107, C.R.S. (1986 Repl.Vol. 3B). Fulfillment of these criteria is a prerequisite to receiving unemployment compensation benefits. See Everitt Lumber Co. v. Industrial Commission, 39 Colo.App. 336, 565 P.2d 967 (1977); see also City & County of Denver v. Industrial Commission, 707 P.2d 1008 (Colo.App.1985). If these criteria are not met, claimant may not receive any benefits even if he does obtain a favorable non-monetary determination.

A non-monetary determination decides the amount of benefits to which a claimant is entitled based on the factual circumstances surrounding the claimant’s separation from employment. The criteria for determining non-monetary issues are set forth in § 8-73-108, C.R.S. (1986 Repl.Vol. 3B).

This distinction that monetary issues deal with eligibility and non-monetary issues deal with entitlement to benefits must be kept in mind in the analysis of the legal problems presented here. The statute and applicable regulations contemplate different procedures and time frames for administrative review of the decisions of the two types of determination. For instance, initial monetary determinations concerning arithmetical computations are not subject to immediate appeal. Instead, interested parties must first request reconsideration of such determinations by the division. See § 8-74-102(2), C.R.S. (1986 Repl.Vol. 3B); Regulation 11.1.6, 7 Code Colo.Reg. 1101-2.

On the other hand, all non-monetary decisions are appealable immediately. See § 8-74-103, C.R.S. (1986 Repl.Vol. 3B). As a consequence of these different appeal tracks, the appeal of monetary and non-monetary determinations may proceed at a different pace.

A finding that a claimant is not monetarily eligible to receive benefits is a final disposition of a claim because it completely determines the rights of the parties without further action by the administrative tribunal. See Agren, Blando & Associates, Inc. v. Oleston, 746 P.2d 68 (Colo. App.1987). Consequently, if a claimant is not monetarily eligible, any non-monetary determination has no legal force or effect.

In this case, the initial determination that claimant was not monetarily eligible for the receipt of any benefits, and that claimant’s claim was therefore disallowed, was a final order which fully adjudicated claimant’s monetarily eligibility, and also claimant’s claim for benefits. See Agren, Blando & Associates, Inc. v. Oleston, supra. Pursuant to the statutory and regulatory scheme, claimant was required to appeal this determination or it would become binding on him and other interested parties. See §§ 8-74-102(2) and 8-74-108, C.R.S. (1986 Repl.Vol. 3B); Regulations 11.1.2 and 11.1.11, 7 Code Colo.Reg. 1101-2.

Until the supreme court made a final determination that claimant was monetarily eligible, any non-monetary decision within *101 the agency that claimant was not entitled to

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781 P.2d 98, 13 Brief Times Rptr. 14, 1989 Colo. App. LEXIS 9, 1989 WL 401, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arteaga-v-industrial-claim-appeals-office-coloctapp-1989.