City of Tupelo v. MISS. EMPLOYMENT SEC.

748 So. 2d 151, 1999 WL 798932
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 7, 1999
Docket1998-SA-01538-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 748 So. 2d 151 (City of Tupelo v. MISS. EMPLOYMENT SEC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Tupelo v. MISS. EMPLOYMENT SEC., 748 So. 2d 151, 1999 WL 798932 (Mich. 1999).

Opinion

748 So.2d 151 (1999)

CITY OF TUPELO, Mississippi
v.
MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION and Peggy L. Thompson.

No. 1998-SA-01538-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

October 7, 1999.

Tacey Clark Clayton, Tupelo, William Hull Davis, Jr., Corinth, Elizabeth Schlater Mitchell, Tupelo, Attorneys for Appellant.

Mark D. Ray, Jackson, Jim Waide, Tupelo, Albert B. White, Madison, David Chandler, Tupelo, Victor Israel Fleitas, Tupelo, Attorneys for Appellees.

BEFORE PITTMAN, P.J., AND MILLS AND WALLER, JJ.

MILLS, Justice, for the Court:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

¶ 1. After being terminated by her employer, the City of Tupelo (hereinafter the City), in March of 1998, Peggy L. Thompson filed a claim for unemployment benefits. In April of 1998 the Claims Examiner disqualified Thompson for the unemployment benefits. Thompson appealed the Claims Examiner's ruling, and a hearing was held before the Mississippi Employment Security Commission Appeals *152 Referee on May 13, 1998. On May 19, 1998, the Appeals Referee reversed the Claims Examiner's finding and ruled that Thompson was not guilty of misconduct.

¶ 2. The City filed an appeal with the Mississippi Employment Security Commission Board of Review. The Board of Review determined that City's appeal filed on June 4, 1998 was untimely; subsequently, the Appeals Referee's decision had become final. The Board of Review dismissed the appeal. The Circuit Court of Lee County affirmed the Board of Review's decision on the same ground that City had failed to file its Notice of Appeal within fourteen (14) days of the mailing of the Appeals Referee's decision. Neither the Board of Review nor the circuit court addressed the merits of Thompson's dismissal. From the circuit court's judgment affirming the Board of Review's dismissal, the City appeals to this Court assigning the following as error:

I. Whether the City of Tupelo's appeal of the Referee's decision was untimely pursuant to M.C.A. section 71-5-519, such that dismissal by the Board of Review was proper?
II. Whether the City of Tupelo should be granted the opportunity to argue the issue of Thompson's dismissal for good cause?
III. Whether Thompson's dismissal was for good cause within the parameters of M.C.A. § 71-5-513?

STATEMENT OF FACTS

¶ 3. Peggy L. Thompson had worked for the City of Tupelo as a police officer for six and one-half years when she was terminated in March of 1998. The termination occurred after the police department determined that Thompson falsely reported the circumstances of an auto accident in which she was involved while on patrol. Thompson subsequently filed for unemployment benefits.

¶ 4. On April 1, 1998, the Claims Examiner disqualified Thompson for unemployment benefits based upon her alleged misconduct regarding the auto accident pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 71-5-513A(1)(b)(Supp.1999). Thompson then filed her notice of appeal from that determination on April 14, 1998. The notices of the appeal were mailed to the City at "City of Tupelo, 220 North Front Street, Tupelo, MS 38801; and to "UCCS Inc., 356 HWY 51 STE A, Ridgeland, MS 39157." A hearing was held before the Mississippi Employment Security Commission Appeals Referee on May 13, 1998. Thompson was represented by her attorney, Jim Waide, and the City was represented by Diane Johnson of Unemployment Compensation Control ("UCCS") of Ridgeland, MS.

¶ 5. The Referee made his decision on May 19, 1998 finding that the City had failed to meet its burden of proving that Thompson was terminated for disqualifying misconduct. The Referee's decision was mailed on May 19, 1998 to the City at 220 North Front Street, Tupelo, MS 38801 and to the City's representative, Diane Johnson, at the UCCS, Inc., 396 HWY 51 STE A, Ridgeland, MS 39157, the same two addresses to which Thompson's notice of appeal to the Appeals Referee was mailed.

¶ 6. The City filed its notice of appeal to the Mississippi Employment Security Commission Board of Review on June 4, 1998. The Board of Review dismissed the appeal as untimely. The Board of Review's decision reads in pertinent part:

Section 71-5-519 of the Mississippi Code provides that the decision of the Referee shall become the final decision of the Board of Review unless an appeal is filed within fourteen (14) days after the date of notification or mailing of such decision. The Referee's decision was mailed to all interested parties to their last known address on May 19, 1998. The appeal was not filed to the Board of Review until June 4, 1998. *153 The Referee's decision has become final and the appeal is herewith dismissed.

The appeal, in fact, was filed two (2) days in excess of the fourteen (14) day period.

ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE CITY OF TUPELO'S APPEAL OF THE REFEREE'S DECISION WAS UNTIMELY PURSUANT TO M.C.A. SECTION 71-5-519, SUCH THAT DISMISSAL BY THE BOARD OF REVIEW WAS PROPER?

¶ 7. The City of Tupelo's first and most significant concern is the question of whether its appeal of the Referee's decision to the Board of Review was filed in a timely manner under Miss.Code Ann. § 71-5-519 (1995). That statute reads:

Unless such appeal is withdrawn, an appeal tribunal, after affording the parties reasonable opportunity for fair hearing, shall affirm, modify or reverse the findings of fact and initial determination or amended initial determination. The parties shall be duly notified of such tribunal's decision, together with its reasons therefor, which shall be deemed to be the final decision of the board of review unless, within fourteen (14) day after the date of notification or mailing of such decision, further appeal is initiated pursuant to section 71-5-523.

Miss.Code Ann. § 71-5-519 (1995).

¶ 8. The City argues that it was not given reasonable notice of the Referee's decision and therefore could not file an appeal with the fourteen (14) day time period. We have indicated that there is a due process component to the notice provided by the Mississippi Employment Security Commission. Booth v. Mississippi Employment Sec. Comm'n, 588 So.2d 422, 427-428 (Miss.1991). In Booth, the question of whether the Commission mailed adequate notice to the claimant was not in dispute. Id. In addressing the issue of whether due process required notice to a claimant's attorney, we held that due process requires "notice reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise interested parties of the pendency of the action and to afford them an opportunity to present their objections." Id. (quoting Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 314, 70 S.Ct. 652, 94 L.Ed. 865 (1950)). In regard to sending notice to the party's attorney we stated: "... this Court ... does not hold that there is a constitutional requirement for notice to the attorney for the claimant as long as notice to the claimant is "reasonably calculated" to apprise the claimant of necessary information." Id.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Mississippi Power Co. v. Mississippi Public Service Commission
168 So. 3d 905 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2015)
Cummings v. MISS. DEPT. OF EMPLOYMENT SEC.
980 So. 2d 340 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Mississippi Employment Security Commission v. Gilbert Home Health Agency
909 So. 2d 1142 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)
MESC v. Powell
787 So. 2d 1277 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)
Miss. Bd. of Veterinary Med. v. Geotes
770 So. 2d 940 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
748 So. 2d 151, 1999 WL 798932, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-tupelo-v-miss-employment-sec-miss-1999.