Court Opinion

ID: 9379357
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-15 15:03:09.960663+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:36.144825
License: Public Domain

Cite as 2023 Ark. App. 167
                    ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
                                        DIVISION III
                                         No. E-22-82

                                                 Opinion Delivered March   15, 2023
KIZZIE MCDOWELL
                                 APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE ARKANSAS
                                           BOARD OF REVIEW
V.
                                                 [NO. 2021-BR-04702]
DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF
WORKFORCE SERVICES                               REVERSED AND REMANDED
                                   APPELLEE

                               WAYMOND M. BROWN, Judge

        This is an unbriefed unemployment benefits case. Appellant Kizzie McDowell

 (McDowell) appeals the Arkansas Board of Review’s (the Board’s) determination finding that

 she is liable to repay $3,290 in unemployment benefits to the Department of Workforce

 Services (DWS). We do not reach the merits here and instead reverse and remand this case

 as the appeal is premature.

        On April 3, 2020, McDowell filed an initial claim for unemployment benefits. From

 that claim, McDowell received benefits for the week ending July 11, 2020, through the week

 ending October 31, 2020, totaling $3,290. Thereafter, the Division issued a determination

 on June 3, 2021, denying McDowell benefits under Ark. Code Ann. § 11-10-513(a) (Supp.

 2021) on finding that McDowell “voluntarily left last work without good cause connected

 with the work due to an illness, pregnancy, or disability of themself or that of an immediate
family member but without making reasonable efforts to preserve her employment prior to

leaving pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 11-10-5-l3(b).” That determination led to the

overpayment. Following this, McDowell filed an untimely appeal of that determination, and

the Appeal Tribunal (Tribunal) issued a decision in appeal No. 2021-AT-17302 finding that

the untimely filing of the appeal was not due to circumstances beyond her control. In

response, McDowell timely appealed the Tribunal’s decision to the Board, which reversed

the Tribunal’s decision and remanded the case to the Tribunal with instructions to conduct

a hearing regarding McDowell’s separation from work.

       Now, specific to the case before us, on July 30, 2021, McDowell was issued a notice

of non-fraud overpayment determination, finding that she was liable to repay $3,290 in

benefits pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 11-10-532(b) (Supp. 2021). In response, McDowell

filed a timely appeal of this determination to the Tribunal, which conducted a hearing on

August 31, 2021, and affirmed the Division’s determination in appeal No. 2021-AT-17304.

Following this, McDowell timely appealed the Tribunal’s decision to the Board.

       The Board, in appeal No. 2021-BR-04702, affirmed the Tribunal’s determination

finding that

    [a]lthough the Board in Appeal No. 2021-BR-04701 remanded the case to the
    Appeal Tribunal with instructions to conduct a hearing regarding the claimant's
    separation from work, the Notice of Agency Determination is still in effect as of the
    date of this decision. As such, the overpayment is still in effect. The overpayment
    was not the direct result of an error by the Division and an equity and good
    conscience review is not warranted. Therefore, the decision of the Appeal Tribunal
    in Appeal No. 202 l-AT-17304 is affirmed on finding that the claimant is liable to
    repay benefits.

                                             2
       We disagree. From our review of the record, deciding McDowell’s liability for

repayment here would be premature, when the ultimate question of McDowell’s eligibility

has not been decided, and an appeal is pending on the resolution of this question.1 As the

record reflects, The Board remanded appeal No. 2021-AT-17302 to determine whether

McDowell “voluntarily left last work without good cause connected with the work due to an

illness, pregnancy, or disability of themself or that of an immediate family member, but

without making reasonable efforts to preserve her employment prior to leaving pursuant to

Ark. Code Ann. § 11-10-5 l3(b).” The finality of that appeal directly impacts the appeal

before us because it addresses what caused the alleged overpayment of benefits.2

       Thus, because the hearing on repayment, was premature, we reverse and remand for

a new hearing once the eligibility determination in appeal No. 2021-AT-17302 has been

resolved and become final for appellate purposes.

       Reversed and remanded.

       VIRDEN and GRUBER, JJ., agree.

       Kizzie McDowell, pro se appellant.

       1
         Brannan v. Everett, 5 Ark. App. 271, 636 S.W.2d 301 (1982) (holding that a final
decision regarding the appellant’s liability for repayment of benefits was premature when the
ultimate question of his eligibility had not yet been resolved); and Thurman v. Everett, 6 Ark.
App. 340, 342, 341, 642 S.W.2d 323, 324 (1982) (reversing and remanding for a new hearing
on “the issue of repayment in the event the appeal of the overpayment issue is finally decided
in favor of the agency,” even though appellant neither raised the issue in the hearing nor
filed a brief and recognizing that even as the opinion was being written “the issue may be
moot”).

       2
           Holloway v. Dir., 2012 Ark. App. 635, at 2–3.
                                                3
Cynthia L. Uhrynowycz, Associate General Counsel, for appellee.

                                     4