Perrine v. South Dakota Department of Labor

431 N.W.2d 156, 1988 S.D. LEXIS 154, 1988 WL 115970
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 2, 1988
Docket16072
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 431 N.W.2d 156 (Perrine v. South Dakota Department of Labor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Perrine v. South Dakota Department of Labor, 431 N.W.2d 156, 1988 S.D. LEXIS 154, 1988 WL 115970 (S.D. 1988).

Opinions

WUEST, Chief Justice.

Byron Perrine (Perrine) appeals a circuit court order dismissing his appeal from a determination by the South Dakota Department of Labor (Department) that Perrine was ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits. We affirm.

Perrine was employed as the superintendent of the Harding County School District (District) for the 1986-87 school term. On December 12, 1986, Perrine’s contract with the District was terminated and he subsequently filed for unemployment compensation benefits pursuant to SDCL ch. 61-7.

After an investigation of Perrine’s claim for benefits, the Department initially determined that Perrine voluntarily left work with good cause and that he was eligible for unemployment compensation benefits. This determination notice was mailed to all parties on January 15, 1987. Because this notice was sent to Perrine’s previous employer and not to the District, the Department issued a corrected determination notice dated January 26,1987. This corrected notice again held Perrine eligible for benefits.

The District appealed the corrected determination notice on February 4, 1987. Thereafter, the Department notified Per-rine of the appeal and requested his response to certain documents accompanying the District’s notice of appeal. Perrine complied with the Department’s request by submitting additional documents and material on March 2, 1987.

After reviewing the additional documentation supplied by both parties, the Department issued a redetermination notice dated March 2,1987. This redetermination notice held Perrine ineligible to receive unemployment compensation benefits for reasons of misconduct, incompetency and neglect of duty. The notice, like the previously issued determination notices, contained the following statement in the upper right hand corner:

APPEAL RIGHTS:

This determination is final unless an appeal is filed by the claimant or any other interested party within NINE (9) days after mailing this notice.

No appeal was filed by Perrine or by anyone on his behalf until March 16, 1987. The Department refused to accept Per-rine’s appeal since it was not timely filed. The Secretary, concluding that appeal times are jurisdictional and that Perrine’s appeal was untimely made, upheld the Department’s decision and ordered that Per-rine’s appeal be dismissed. From the Secretary’s adverse decision, Perrine appealed for review to the circuit court. After a hearing, the circuit court also determined Perrine’s appeal to be untimely and affirmed the Secretary’s order.

Perrine now appeals to this court claiming that the Rules of Civil Procedure, particularly SDCL 15-6-6(a) directing the computation of time periods and SDCL 15-6-6(e) allowing three additional days to a prescribed time period when notice is served by mail, should be followed by the Department in cases involving an intra-agency appeal from a determination of unemployment compensation benefits. Per-rine also contends that the Department should have held an initial hearing on the District’s appeal, even though the Department issued a redetermination notice in the District’s favor essentially rendering its appeal moot.

The procedure for filing, determining and appealing unemployment compensation benefits is delineated in SDCL ch. 61-7. Significantly, SDCL 61-7-5 provides:

Unless the claimant, ... within nine days after notice has been mailed to his last known address, ... files an appeal from the adjusted determination, such determination shall be final ... and benefits shall be paid or denied in accordance therewith- (Emphasis supplied).

[158]*158The Department is authorized under SDCL 61-7-8 to prescribe rules detailing the manner in which disputed claims are presented and hearings and appeals are conducted. No particular rule, however, specifies the method of computing the nine-day period in SDCL 61-7-5. In the absence of such a rule, Perrine asserts that SDCL 15-6-6(a)1 and 15-6-6(e)2 should apply to this prescribed period.3

In support of his contention that the nine-day period in SDCL 61-7-5 should incorporate SDCL 15-6-6(a) and SDCL 15-6-6(e), Perrine cites Madsen v. Preferred Painting Contractors, 89 S.D. 897, 233 N.W.2d 575 (1975). In Madsen, the appellant applied for worker’s compensation benefits through the South Dakota Department of Labor. The deputy commissioner entered an order denying the appellant’s claim for benefits and notified the appellant of his decision by first class, certified mail. Under SDCL 62-7-16, the appellant had ten days after service of the commissioner’s decision to file a petition for review. The appellant, believing he had been granted a ten-day extension to file, served his petition for review twenty-six days after the deputy commissioner’s order was issued. His petition was denied on the basis that it was untimely. This court, in interpreting and construing the ten-day period in SDCL 62-7-16, incorporated SDCL 15-6-6(e) to add three days for service by mail to the prescribed ten-day period.

Although the present case is factually similar to Madsen, we find the two cases distinguishable. Madsen dealt with a worker’s compensation claim under SDCL ch. 62-7. SDCL 62-7-30 specifically provides that service of notices or orders may be made in the manner provided by SDCL 15-6-5, the statute governing the service and filing of pleadings and other papers. When a notice regarding a worker’s compensation claim is served by mail pursuant to SDCL 15-6-5(b), the provision in SDCL 15-6-6(e) allowing an additional three days is necessarily implicated. Such is not the case when the notice regards a claim for unemployment compensation.

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

Related

McCook Lake Recreation Area v. Dakota Bay, LLC
2025 S.D. 53 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2025)
Sowards v. Hills Materials Co.
521 N.W.2d 649 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1994)
Lawler v. Windmill Restaurant
435 N.W.2d 708 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1989)
Perrine v. South Dakota Department of Labor
431 N.W.2d 156 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
431 N.W.2d 156, 1988 S.D. LEXIS 154, 1988 WL 115970, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perrine-v-south-dakota-department-of-labor-sd-1988.