Department of Economic & Employment Development v. Lilley

666 A.2d 921, 106 Md. App. 744, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 176
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedNovember 3, 1995
DocketNo. 2070
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 666 A.2d 921 (Department of Economic & Employment Development v. Lilley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Department of Economic & Employment Development v. Lilley, 666 A.2d 921, 106 Md. App. 744, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 176 (Md. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

HOLLANDER, Judge.

The Department of Economic and Employment Development, (“DEED”), appellant, found Robert K. Lilley, appellee, ineligible for unemployment insurance benefits because his claim was untimely filed. After DEED’S Board of Appeals (the “Board”) denied review, Lilley sought review of the agency’s decision in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. It reversed the Board’s decision and remanded the case to the agency with instructions to backdate Lilley’s application and award him unemployment benefits. In its appeal to this Court, DEED presents three issues for our review, which we have rephrased slightly for clarity:

I. Does substantial evidence support the Board’s finding that Westinghouse did not knowingly make a false [749]*749statement with the intent to prevent appellee from collecting benefits?
II. Even if the Board’s finding of fact was not supported by substantial evidence, may the circuit court make its own findings instead of remanding the case to the Board?
III. When reversing the Board’s decision, may the circuit court substitute a remedy implied but not expressed in the statute or must it remand the case to the Board for the Board’s consideration of whether to exercise its discretion?

For the reasons discussed below, we answer the first two questions in the negative and, therefore, we decline to decide the remaining issue. Accordingly, we shall vacate the decision of the circuit court and remand this case to the agency for further proceedings.

Factual Background

Lilley was employed by Westinghouse for over fourteen years. In October 1992, Lilley received notice from Westinghouse Electric Corporation that he would be laid off as of December 31,1993, as part of the company’s mass reduction in force at the Integrated Logistics Service Division. At the time of the notice and subsequent termination, Lilley was on total disability and was receiving monthly disability payments.

Westinghouse had opened an on-site resource center to assist affected employees in applying for unemployment insurance benefits. Lilley called the benefits office and, based on his conversation with a benefits representative, Lilley did not file for benefits at the time of termination.

Almost a year later, in November 1993, Lilley’s doctor found him able to work and released him from care. On November 10, 1993, Lilley applied for unemployment insurance. The claims examiner determined that Lilley was ineligible for benefits because he did not have sufficient earnings in the [750]*750preceding base period to qualify.1 The claims examiner also informed Lilley that he would have qualified for benefits if he had applied in January 1993, directly after his termination from Westinghouse, even though his disability would have prevented him from .collecting benefits at that point. Had he filed at the time of termination, Lilley would have preserved his monetary eligibility and thus would have qualified for benefits when he regained his ability to work.

In response, Lilley explained that he had filed late based on incorrect advice from a Westinghouse representative. Nonetheless, the claims officer rejected appellee’s request to backdate the claim to the time of his layoff and, on November 19, 1993, denied Lilley’s claim for benefits.

Lilley appealed. Thereafter, a DEED hearing examiner conducted a de novo hearing to determine if Lilley had “filed proper claims for unemployment insurance benefits.” At the hearing, Lilley claimed that Westinghouse violated Md.Code Ann., Labor & Emp’t art. (“L.E.”), § 8-1302 (1991) by knowingly deceiving him about his ability to file for insurance benefits, notwithstanding his inability to collect benefits. Lilley and the DEED claims examiner were the only witnesses; Westinghouse was not notified of the hearing because it supposedly “involved an Agency issue,” regarding whether the claimant properly filed a claim in accordance with L.E. § 8-901.

Lilley testified that a Westinghouse insurance benefits employee gave him erroneous information about filing:

I asked her about unemployment insurance, I said, “Listen. I can’t get over to the resource center to file anything,” and she says, ‘Well, there are two reasons why you are not going to be eligible for unemployment.” She says, “Number one, you are not able to work.” She says, “Based on your permanent disability, long term disability right now, [751]*751even if you wanted to work you cannot do so,” and she says, “Number two,” she said, “Even though you are officially terminated as of December the 31st, because you are on long term disability and you are receiving disability pay checks and you are receiving insurance benefits, in kind of a semi-way, you are still on the payrolls of Westinghouse.” She says, “Therefore, you are not eligible to even file for unemployment insurance.”
sH ❖ * * *
It would stand to reason ... that they are going to do whatever they possibly can not to pay the insurance policy, you know, maybe not volunteer the information.

(Emphasis added). The DEED claims examiner corroborated Lilley’s testimony. She said:

[I]t seemed to him and to me that Westinghouse might have misled him as to what he was able to do. They kind of said, since you aren’t able to collect unemployment, able to work because of your foot injury, you aren’t able to file for benefits.

(Emphasis added).

Although Lilley testified that Westinghouse told him he was not eligible to file for benefits, the hearing examiner found only that Lilley “was told by his employer that he would not be eligible [to receive] unemployment benefits because he was disabled.” Accordingly, the hearing examiner found “insufficient information” that Westinghouse violated L.E. § 8-1302. Additionally, the hearing examiner found no evidence to show that Westinghouse had violated L.E. § 8-603, which requires employers to post notices in accessible places informing employees of their right to unemployment insurance benefits. Accordingly, the hearing examiner concluded that Lilley had untimely applied for unemployment insurance. The hearing examiner also determined that, in any event, DEED had no authority to backdate Lilley’s claim under the circumstances [752]*752here.2 As noted, LiUey sought review in the circuit court, which rejected DEED’S conclusion. The court found a lack of substantial evidence to support the Board’s determination that Westinghouse merely informed Lilley that he was not eligible to receive benefits. Rather, the court was of the view that Westinghouse advised Lilley that he could not even file for benefits. According to the court, Lilley “was advised that he was not eligible to file for unemployment benefits because he did not meet the requirement that he was able to work.” (Emphasis added). The court also observed:

There is a significant distinction between being eligible to file for unemployment benefits and being eligible to receive these benefits.

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Bluebook (online)
666 A.2d 921, 106 Md. App. 744, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 176, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/department-of-economic-employment-development-v-lilley-mdctspecapp-1995.