Kristin Caldwell v. Director, Division of Workforce Services

2021 Ark. App. 294

• Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas
• Decided: June 2, 2021
• Status: Published

Opinion

Cite as 2021 Ark. App. 294 Elizabeth Perry ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS I attest to the accuracy and DIVISION IV integrity of this document No. E-21-51 2023.06.28 14:44:03 -05'00' 2023.001.20174 Opinion Delivered June 2, 2021

KRISTIN CALDWELL APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE ARKANSAS BOARD OF REVIEW V. [NO. 2020-BR-01761]

DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF WORKFORCE SERVICES REMANDED TO SETTLE AND APPELLEE SUPPLEMENT THE RECORD

PHILLIP T. WHITEAKER, Judge

Appellant, Kristin Caldwell, appeals an adverse ruling of the Board of Review

affirming the Appeal Tribunal’s dismissal of her unemployment claim as untimely. Because

our record does not contain a transcript of the October 21, 2020 Paulino 1 hearing conducted

by the Appeal Tribunal on the timeliness issue, we remand to the Board of Review to settle

and supplement the record to include the transcript of that hearing.

The procedural history of this case is as follows. On July 2, 2020, the Division of

Workforce Services issued a “Notice of Determination of Entitlement” denying Caldwell’s

claim for unemployment benefits. Caldwell filed an untimely appeal of the determination

to the Appeal Tribunal. On October 21, 2020, the Tribunal conducted a Paulino hearing to

determine whether the untimely filing of the appeal was due to circumstances outside

1 Paulino v. Daniels, 269 Ark. 676, 559 S.W.2d 760 (Ark. App. 1980). Caldwell’s control. The Tribunal subsequently decided that the circumstances surrounding

Caldwell’s delay in filing her appeal from the agency determination were within her control,

and her appeal was therefore untimely.

Caldwell then appealed the Tribunal’s decision to the Board of Review. The notice

of appeal from the Tribunal was also file-marked outside the time allotted for appeal;

however, at a December 30, 2020 hearing before the Board, Caldwell presented proof to

the Board that she had transmitted a notice of appeal to the Board prior to the appeal

deadline. At the December 30, 2020 hearing, only evidence of the timeliness of Caldwell’s

appeal from the Tribunal to the Board was introduced. After the hearing, the Board found

that Caldwell’s appeal to the Board of Review was timely but affirmed the Tribunal’s

decision that her appeal of the agency’s determination to it had been untimely filed.

Caldwell has now appealed the Board’s determination denying her claim for benefits on the

basis that her appeal to the Tribunal was untimely. However, because our record does not

include a transcript of the October 21, 2020 Paulino hearing in which the timeliness issue

before the Tribunal was presented, we cannot reach the merits of her claim at this time.

This case is therefore remanded to the Board of Review to settle and supplement the

record to include the transcript of the October 21, 2020 hearing within thirty days.

Remanded to settle and supplement record.

GRUBER and BARRETT, JJ., agree.

Kristin Caldwell, pro se appellant.

Cynthia Uhrynowycz, Associate General Counsel, for appellee.