Gregory v. Department of Workforce Services, 361 P.3d 701

Gregory sought judicial review of two Workforce Appeals Board decisions affirming Department decisions denying benefits and imposing a fraud overpayment and penalty.
The Department issued its decisions on May 1, 2015, and Gregory filed untimely appeals on May 28, 2015.
ALJ hearings were scheduled to address timeliness and merits; Gregory was required to confirm participation and provide a reachable phone number by June 9, 2015.
Gregory failed to confirm participation in three hearings, resulting in three Orders of Default and later Board consideration of reopening.
The Board found Gregory did not show excusable neglect or circumstances beyond his control and affirmed the Orders of Default and the Department’s decisions.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Board properly denied reopening due to default	Gregory contends prompt reopening was warranted.	Board properly found no excusable neglect or prevented participation.	Yes; Board affirmed denial of reopening.
Whether untimely appeals can be reviewed on the merits	Untimeliness should not bar consideration of asserted errors.	Untimeliness barred merits review and supports default orders.	Yes; merits review denial maintained due to untimely appeals.
Whether the failure to participate constitutes excusable neglect under rule	Long work hours and miscommunications could show excusable neglect.	No demonstrated miscommunication or excusable neglect beyond self-assertions.	No; neglect not excusable; default affirmed.

Jex v. Labor Comm'n, 2013 UT 40 (Utah Supreme Court 2013) (deferential review for mixed questions of fact and law)