Opinion ID: 1567336
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Whether McNeel should be compensated for legal fees incurred regarding her unemployment benefits.

Text: ¶ 38. McNeel argues that [t]he net amount of the unemployment benefits after the attorney fees of having representation at the appeal are deducted would be $2,440.00 (4,940.00 minus 2,500.00). She seeks reimbursement for these legal fees. As in Issue VII., supra, the MDHS responds that such relief is foreclosed because the EAB is not authorized to award attorneys' fees. ¶ 39. The circuit court characterized this request as nothing more than a request for attorneys' fees ... Obtaining an attorney to represent her before the Mississippi Employment Security Commission was entirely McNeel's choice. As the EAB lacks authority to award attorneys' fees, see Issue VII., supra, the circuit court affirmed the EAB's denial of McNeel's request. This Court agrees and, therefore, cannot find that the EAB's denial of McNeel's request for reimbursement of legal fees associated with her unemployment benefits was unsupported by substantial evidence, arbitrary or capricious, or in violation of McNeel's statutory or constitutional rights. See Miss.Code Ann. § 25-9-132(2) (Rev.2006). Therefore, this Court concludes that this issue is without merit.