Hampton v. Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, N15A-12-009 AML

Keon Hampton was discharged by Sycamore International; a claims deputy initially found he was discharged without cause and eligible for benefits.
Sycamore appealed; an appeals hearing occurred on October 27, 2015; Hampton was properly notified but did not attend.
On November 2, 2015 the appeals referee reversed the claims deputy, found Hampton discharged for just cause, and disqualified him from benefits.
The referee’s decision was mailed and became final ten days later (November 12, 2015); Hampton filed an appeal to the Board on December 3, 2015 (14 days late).
Hampton contended Department of Labor staff misinformed him (allegedly shredded his appeal form and told him no appeal was needed), causing his late filing; the Board declined to accept the untimely appeal and affirmed the referee.
The Superior Court reviewed whether the Board abused its discretion in refusing to hear the untimely appeal and affirmed the Board’s decision.

Issue	Hampton's Argument	Department's Argument	Held
Whether the Board abused its discretion by refusing to hear Hampton's untimely appeal of the referee's decision	Hampton said he was misinformed by Department staff (told not to appeal; form shredded), so delay was excusable	Board argued appeal was untimely and there was no evidence of Department error or other severe circumstances warranting sua sponte review	Court held Board did not abuse its discretion; Hampton received the mailed decision and appeal was filed 14 days late, so Board reasonably declined to accept it

Olney v. Cooch, 425 A.2d 610 (Del. 1981) (defines substantial evidence review for administrative findings)
Thompson v. Christiana Care Health Sys., 25 A.3d 778 (Del. 2011) (standard of appellate review for administrative board decisions)
Funk v. Unemployment Ins. Appeal Bd., 591 A.2d 222 (Del. 1991) (Board’s sua sponte jurisdiction over untimely appeals is limited to cases of Department error or exceptional circumstances)