STATE OF MINNESOTA
IN COURT OF APPEALS
A06-324
Adar O. Ywswf,
Relator,
vs.
Teleplan Wireless Services, Inc.,
Respondent,
Department of Employment and Economic Development,
Respondent.
Filed January 30, 2007
Affirmed
Hudson, Judge
Department of Employment and Economic Development
File No. 16936 05
Lisa
Hollingsworth, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Inc.,
Charles
H. Thomas, 12 Civic Center Plaza,
Frank
Vogl, Edward P. Sheu, Best & Flanagan LLP,
Linda A. Holmes, Lee B. Nelson, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, First National Bank Building, 332 Minnesota Street, Suite E200, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101-1351 (for respondent Department)
Considered and decided by Minge, Presiding Judge; Shumaker, Judge; and Hudson, Judge.
S Y L L A B U S
1. The unemployment law judge must ensure that unrepresented parties receive a fair hearing.
2. This court will defer to an unemployment law judge’s credibility determinations under Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 1(c) (Supp. 2005) that are supported by substantial evidence.
3. To obtain an additional evidentiary hearing on reconsideration under Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 2(c) (Supp. 2005), the movant must meet the statutory requirements.
O P I N I O N
HUDSON, Judge
FACTS
Respondent Teleplan Wireless Services employed relator Adar Ywswf on the second shift as a permanent full-time employee, where her job was testing Nokia cell phones. She worked from February 21, 2005, until October 11, 2005. She asserted that she was laid off, while Teleplan claimed that she quit.
Relator established an unemployment benefits account, and the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) made an initial determination of disqualification, finding that she could have continued working for Teleplan on the first shift, but instead chose to quit. Relator appealed, and a telephone hearing was conducted by the unemployment law judge (ULJ). Relator appeared pro se, as did the employer, who was represented by its director of human resources, Shirley Curran.
Curran testified that the amount of work available on the Nokia phones on the second-shift had been decreasing, which affected ten people, including relator. At the same time, the employer received new work from Motorola, which would require an additional 16 to 20 employees on the first shift. The company preferred to hire experienced workers. Curran testified that she and an assistant met with the ten Nokia workers on the second shift individually, including relator, and offered them jobs on the first shift beginning Monday, October 17, 2005. She noted that although many people who work on the second shift have particular reasons for doing so, because the employer was seeking experienced workers, it nonetheless wanted to offer these employees an opportunity to move to first shift. Seven of the ten turned down the offer to work on the first shift, including relator.
Curran testified that relator said that she was going to school in the morning and could not accept the first-shift job. Curran, who was surprised to hear this, congratulated relator, explained that there was no other work on the second shift so that her employment would end that night, and discussed her benefits upon leaving the job. When asked by the ULJ whether relator understood that the employer was offering her first-shift work, Curran testified: “When [relator] told me that she was going to school in the morning and couldn’t go to first shift it was pretty clear to me that she understood that I was offering her first shift because she was telling me the reason why she couldn’t go to first shift.”
After Curran testified, the ULJ asked relator whether she had any questions for Curran. Relator said “Yes, I strongly disagree.” The ULJ said “Okay, but do you have a question, or do you just want to state your position?” Relator responded “I strongly disagree with what she said.” The ULJ then asked relator to explain what she disagreed with.
Relator testified that she was laid off after the Nokia work ended. She denied that Curran had spoken to her about the first-shift work before she was laid off and also denied that she told Curran that she was in school and therefore could not work first shift. The ULJ asked her how Curran would have learned that she was attending school if relator had not told her. Relator explained that she had worked for the company previously on a temporary basis while she was attending school. She offered her school transcript and she testified that she had last attended school in December 2004.
Relator initially denied meeting with Curran before her job ended. She then explained that the Nokia workers were taken to Curran’s office one by one. She was the last to be taken there and she was told that there was no job. She again testified that she had not been told about the first-shift job. After some additional testimony from both witnesses, the hearing ended.
The ULJ found that Curran offered relator a first-shift job working on Motorola phones and that relator informed Curran that the first-shift hours conflicted with her school schedule and that she could not accept the offer. The ULJ specifically found that relator’s assertions to the contrary were not credible. Because continued employment was available but relator decided not to accept it, the ULJ ruled that relator voluntarily quit and was disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits.
Relator requested reconsideration and submitted additional documents. The ULJ amended one of the findings and affirmed the earlier decision. This certiorari appeal followed.
ISSUES
I. Did relator receive a fair hearing?
II. Did the ULJ make the credibility findings required by Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 1(c) (Supp. 2005)?
III. Did the ULJ err by not ordering an additional evidentiary hearing based on evidence not submitted at the initial hearing under Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 2(c) (Supp. 2005)?
ANALYSIS
Under the current statutory standard of review, this court will review a decision by the ULJ as follows:
The Minnesota Court of Appeals may affirm the decision of the unemployment law judge or remand the case for further proceedings; or it may reverse or modify the decision if the substantial rights of the petitioner may have been prejudiced because the findings, inferences, conclusion, or decision are:
(1) in violation of constitutional provisions;
(2) in excess of the statutory authority or jurisdiction of the department;
(3) made upon unlawful procedure;
(4) affected by other error of law;
(5) unsupported by substantial evidence in view of the entire record as submitted; or
(6) arbitrary or capricious.
Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 7(d)
(Supp. 2005). Questions of law are
reviewed de novo, while findings that are supported by substantial evidence
will not be disturbed.
I
We first address relator’s argument
that she did not receive a fair hearing.
The unemployment
law judge (ULJ) is to conduct the evidentiary hearing as an “evidence gathering
inquiry” rather than “an adversarial proceeding” and “shall ensure that all
relevant facts are clearly and fully developed.”
Relator contends that she did not receive a fair hearing because the ULJ did not assist her and was unfair in a number of ways. She argues that the ULJ did not explain cross-examination or assist her in cross-examining Curran; that the ULJ failed to ask Curran probing questions or ask her for corroborating evidence; that the ULJ asked Curran leading questions; and that the ULJ cut off relator’s questions. We have read the transcript thoroughly. The ULJ did not use the term “cross-examine,” but instead asked relator if she had questions for Curran and asked her to explain why she disagreed with Curran. The ULJ questioned Curran about the factual dispute, asked whether relator understood that she was being offered a first-shift job, and allowed relator to fully explain her position. Relator’s arguments have no merit; to the contrary, the ULJ conducted an even-handed, fair hearing.
Next,
relator contends that when she referred to her college transcript at the
hearing, the ULJ erred because she did not inquire further about it or receive
it into evidence. The ULJ “should assist
unrepresented parties in the presentation of evidence.”
Although the ULJ did not receive the
transcript into evidence, the ULJ nonetheless made findings that took into
account relator’s claim that
she had not been in school at the time she left employment, which is the fact
that the transcript was offered to show.
The ULJ stated that even if relator had not been currently attending
school, as she maintained, the ULJ would nonetheless credit Curran’s testimony
that relator told her she could not accept the first shift because she was
attending school. Further, on relator’s
motion for reconsideration in which she did specifically offer the school
transcript for the ULJ to consider, the ULJ reiterated that whether relator was
actually attending school at the time of the quit was not controlling. Instead, the ULJ found that relator conveyed
to Curran that she could not accept the first-shift work at the time of the
offer because it conflicted with her school schedule. Thus, relator cannot show any prejudice from
the ULJ’s failure to receive the transcript into evidence. See
Plowman v. Copeland, Buhl & Co., 261 N.W.2d 581, 585 (
Finally,
relator argues that the ULJ failed to take into account that she is not a
native English speaker, that her accent is somewhat difficult to understand,
and that her syntax is sometimes nonstandard.
The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is required
to provide an interpreter, when necessary, upon the request of a party.
In conclusion, none of relator’s claims has merit. Relator has not shown that her substantial rights were prejudiced because the decision was made on unlawful procedure or affected by error of law. Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 7(d).
II
Next, relator argues that the ULJ failed to make statutorily required credibility findings in a case that hinged on the credibility of the parties.
The requirement that relator refers to is
found in Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 1(c) (Supp. 2005), and is part of
statutory changes that the legislature made in 2005 to the procedure under
which parties obtain review of unemployment-benefits decisions. 2005
The
2005 amendments changed this procedure.
2005
Relator argues that because the unemployment-benefits
appeal process no longer includes the commissioner’s representative’s or SURJ’s
review of the ULJ’s decision and the ULJ’s decision is reviewed pursuant to
Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 7(d), the law in Tuff regarding deference to the decision by the commissioner’s
representative no longer applies. The
point that the supreme court made in Tuff
was that the commissioner’s representative had statutory authority to conduct a
de novo review of the ULJ’s decision and that therefore this court should defer
to the decision by the commissioner’s representative rather than the ULJ. 526 N.W.2d at 51. Under the current statute, it is the ULJ who conducts
a de novo review in an evidentiary hearing, which is subject only to reconsideration
by the same ULJ, not de novo review by another layer at the agency level.
Next, we address relator’s argument that the ULJ did not provide reasons for crediting or discrediting the testimony of witnesses as required by statute. In conjunction with the changes in the statute outlined above, the legislature also inserted a provision that, in the initial order, the ULJ must make specific findings regarding credibility as follows: “When the credibility of an involved party or witness testifying in an evidentiary hearing has a significant effect on the outcome of a decision, the [ULJ] must set out the reason for crediting or discrediting that testimony.” Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 1(c).
The ULJ found that relator was offered the opportunity to work on the first shift but that she told Curran, the director of human resources, that she could not accept the offer because of her school schedule. The ULJ addressed the credibility determination as follows:
We have considered Ywswf’s contention that she was not offered the opportunity to continue her employment on the first shift, and [that she did not][3] convey to the director of human resources that she could not accept the opportunity because it conflicted with her school schedule, but do not find her assertions to be credible. The director of human resources credibly testified that all 10 employees, including Ywswf, were offered the opportunity to work on the first shift and that three employees accepted the offer while seven, including Ywswf, declined the opportunity because of personal conflicts. Further, the director credibly testified that she was unaware that Ywswf had been enrolled in school and first learned of her schooling when Ywswf explained that she could not accept the position because it conflicted with her school schedule. And, although Ywswf may not currently be attending school, as she maintained, we, nevertheless, find the director of human resources’ testimony that this was the reason offered by Ywswf for her decision to decline continued employment to be credible.
Relator
asserts that in the above paragraph, the ULJ failed to specify any reason for
discrediting relator’s testimony that she was not offered first-shift work and
that she did not tell the director she could not accept such an offer because
of her school schedule. Relator contends
that merely citing the parties’ testimony does not constitute a finding as to
credibility. See Dean v. Pelton, 437 N.W.2d 762, 764 (
We first review the factors that might be
considered in making credibility determinations by agency decision-makers. For example, a workers’ compensation judge did
not credit an employee’s testimony because it was unreliable due to the
employee’s mental difficulties, but also because he denied making certain
statements in a prior deposition. Even v. Kraft, Inc., 445 N.W.2d 831, 835
(
Finally, for a list of other factors
that may be relevant in determining the credibility of a witness, we refer to
the instructions given to a jury for evaluating the credibility of witnesses in
a civil trial. 4
1. Will a witness gain or lose if this case is decided a certain way?
2. What is the witness’s relationship to the parties?
3. How did a witness learn the facts? How did he or she remember and tell the facts?
4. What was his or her manner?
5. What was his or her age and experience?
6. Did the witness seem honest and sincere?
7. Was the witness frank and direct?
8. Is the testimony reasonable compared with other evidence?
9. Are there any other factors that bear on believability and weight?
In addition, you should rely upon your own experience, good judgment, and common sense.
Here, the way in which the director
learned the facts and the manner in which she described them appear most
relevant. See id. Key to the ULJ’s
credibility determination was testimony by Curran that she first learned of
relator’s schooling when relator explained that she could not accept the
position because it conflicted with her schooling. The director thus had the information about
relator’s schooling, which she would not have known unless the events occurred
as she testified. Further, her version
was very detailed and specific.
III
Finally, relator contends that the ULJ erred when she failed to consider as persuasive newly discovered evidence in reconsidering the decision and that the matter should be remanded for an additional evidentiary hearing. This court will defer to the ULJ’s decision not to hold an additional hearing. Skarhus, 721 N.W.2d at 345 (addressing request for an additional evidentiary hearing under subdivision 2(d)).
Under
the current version of the statute, a party may request reconsideration from
the ULJ who initially heard the appeal.
Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 2(a), (e) (Supp. 2005). Upon such a request, the ULJ may modify the
findings and decision, set aside the findings and decision and direct that an
additional evidentiary hearing be conducted, or affirm the findings and
decision.
In her motion for reconsideration, relator provided the ULJ with the copy of her school transcript that she had referred to in the initial hearing, showing that she had last attended school in fall semester 2004. She also provided three notarized statements from coworkers on the second-shift Nokia line, in which they asserted that they had been laid off with no other option, that to their knowledge relator had not quit or refused any opportunity offered to her on her last day of work, and that they all proceeded to claim unemployment benefits. Finally, relator provided two notices regarding earlier layoffs that the employer had sent her to comply with federal law.
The
provision under Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 2(c)(1), will be addressed
first. To obtain an additional
evidentiary hearing under this section, a relator must show that there is good
cause for not having submitted the evidence previously and that such evidence
would likely change the outcome of the decision.
Next, we address Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 2(c)(2), which provides for an additional evidentiary hearing upon a showing that the evidence submitted at the initial evidentiary hearing was “likely false” and had an effect on the outcome of the hearing. Relator argues that her evidence would directly refute the employer’s assertions.
First, as to the transcript, the ULJ considered the fact that it was offered to prove that relator was not attending school at the time she left employment in both the initial order and the order on reconsideration. Second, the statements by the three affiants do not directly address the testimony as to whether relator was offered a first-shift job. Further, we defer to the ULJ where the ULJ already had made a credibility determination based on the testimony of the two witnesses who had participated in the conversation. Finally, the notices as to earlier layoffs are not relevant to the credibility determination. Relator has not shown that she was entitled to an additional evidentiary hearing under Minn. Stat. § 268.105, subd. 2(c)(2).
D E C I S I O N
The ULJ’s decision that relator is not qualified to receive unemployment benefits is affirmed, and there are no grounds to remand the matter to the ULJ for an additional evidentiary hearing.
Affirmed.
[1] Before 2004, the decision-maker was the
commissioner’s representative; in 2004, the legislature designated the SURJ as
the decision-maker, but otherwise did not make significant changes to the
procedure. 2004
[2] The unemployment law judge was then referred to as the referee.
[3] The bracketed language was added by the ULJ when she amended her findings in the order on reconsideration.