Opinion ID: 1855579
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Was Mrs. Fulce fully informed of her right to be represented by counsel at her hearing before the Disability Appeals Committee?

Text: ¶ 14. Mrs. Fulce claims that she was never clearly instructed that she had a right to have an attorney present during the hearing before the Appeals Committee. PERS Regulation 42 states that, among other things, individuals appealing a decision of PERS may have counsel present at any appeals hearing. The record contains three letters from PERS addressed to Mrs. Fulce, those letters are dated May 11, 1998, June 18, 1998, and July 17, 1998. Each of these letters state that a copy of PERS Regulation 42 is enclosed. The record also contains a Notice of Appeal, executed by Mrs. Fulce, dated June 8, 1998, which was sent to PERS. This form is completely filled out, with the exception of paragraph two, which provides space for the [n]ame, mailing address and telephone number of Appealing Party's attorney, if any. At the very least, Mrs. Fulce should have been made aware of her right to representation before the Appeals Committee based on paragraph two of the Notice of Appeal she executed. Since she filled out every other paragraph of the Notice of Appeal, she had to have read paragraph two. Even if she did not fully understand her right to counsel after reading the Notice of Appeal, she should have inquired further about that right. It also seems more likely than not that she received at least one of the three PERS Regulation 42 notices along with the three aforementioned letters. Accordingly, we hold that Mrs. Fulce had been sufficiently informed of her right of representation at the hearing before the Appeals Committee.