Employment Insurance (EI)

Reasons and Decision

Overview

[1] The Appellant (Claimant) applied for employment insurance benefits on December 20, 2017 after her employer dismissed her. The Respondent (Commission) said the Claimant was not qualified to receive benefits because she voluntarily left her employment without just cause. The Claimant asked the Commission to reconsider its decision. On April 13, 2018 the Commission issued a decision under section 112 of the Employment Insurance Act maintaining the Claimant’s disqualification. The Claimant appealed that decision to the Tribunal on August 16, 2019.

[2] A claimant has to appeal a reconsideration decision within 30 days of the day the Commission tells them about it.^{Footnote 1}

[3] I have to decide if the Claimant filed her appeal on time.

Analysis

[4] The Claimant did not file her appeal on time.

[5] The Commission must prove that it unambiguously communicated the nature and effect its decisions to a claimant.^{Footnote 2} The deadline for filing a claim starts when the decision is communicated to the claimant. I have authority to allow more time for a claimant to file an appeal after this deadline has passed as long as no more than one year has passed after the day on which the Commission told them about its decision.^{Footnote 3}

[6] The Claimant stated in her Notice of Appeal that she does not recall when the Commission told her about its April 13, 2018 decision. The Commission’s file includes notes made by one of its agents in during telephone conversation between the agent and the Claimant on April 13, 2018. These notes show that the Claimant and the agent discussed details of her claim and that the agent then told the Claimant that she could not overturn the Commission’s original decision. The notes also show that the Claimant told the agent that she knew her claim would be denied. The Commission’s file also includes a copy of a letter prepared by the agent on April 13, 2018.

[7] The Claimant’s right to appeal to the Tribunal was mentioned in both the April 13, 2018 telephone call and the letter sent the same day.

[8] This evidence shows that the Commission’s reconsideration decision was communicated to the Claimant on April 13, 2018 and that she understood the nature and substance of it. The Claimant’s appeal was filed with the Tribunal on August 16, 2019, which is more than a year after April 13, 2018.

[9] I have no authority to extend the time for the Claimant to file her appeal if she files it more than a year after the reconsideration decision she wishes to appeal was communicated to her.^{Footnote 4} Any explanation that the Claimant might offer for filing her appeal late is irrelevant.^{Footnote 5} Because the Claimant filed her appeal more than a year after the Commission communicated its reconsideration decision to her the appeal cannot proceed.

Conclusion

[10] I am sympathetic to the Claimant’s circumstances. However, the law I have to apply is clear and leaves me no discretion to allow her appeal to proceed. The appeal is dismissed.