Challenges to ADES Decisions

 

The Arizona Department of Economic Security administers certain benefits programs, including unemployment, nutrition assistance, disability assistance, and adult protection benefits.  Although the Department’s decision for any of these benefit programs may be challenged using the process below, the most common challenge is to unemployment benefits decisions.
 

A benefits case starts when a person (known as a “claimant”) applies to the Department for benefits and the Department issues a Determination of Deputy stating the person is either qualified to receive benefits or disqualified from benefits.  The determination could also be that the Department overpaid benefits to the claimant.  Any person who is unhappy with the Determination of Deputy can request a hearing from the Department.  An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will then hear the parties’ evidence and issue a decision called the Appeals Tribunal Decision.  That decision can be challenged by filing a Petition for Review with the Department’s Appeals Board.  The Appeals Board will conduct a review and issue a decision that affirms or modifies the Appeals Tribunal Decision.  This is the Department’s final ruling.

 

Either side may ask the Court of Appeals to review the Department’s benefits decision by filing an Application for Appeal.  This document must be filed with the Department’s Appeals Board (not the Court of Appeals) within 30 days after the Appeals Board decision.  The deadline to file the Application for Appeal is listed on the front page of the Appeals Board decision. 

 

The Appeals Board will then gather all relevant documents from the case, including a hearing transcript, and send them to the Court of Appeals with the application.  These documents are not available to the public, but the parties or their counsel can access them by coming to the Court of Appeals Clerk’s Office and presenting identification.

 

An Application for Appeal asks the Court of Appeals to hear the appeal, but the Court is not required to do so.  The Court will assess the timeliness of the application and, if timely, determine whether to grant or deny it.  Generally, the Court will grant an application if there is a genuinely disputed legal issue or if the Department appears to have made a significant error.  If the Court denies the application, the case ends immediately.  If the Court grants the application, it will set a schedule for the parties to file appeal briefs.  A brief is an argument in writing that explains why a decision should be changed or affirmed.  Granting an application means only that the Court will consider the parties’ arguments on both sides of the dispute, not that the Court has found the Department was wrong.

 

The Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure govern the briefing of the case and briefs must contain certain information, cite supporting documents in the record, and be in a specific format provided in ARCAP 13, ARCAP 14,  ARCAP 15.  The party that filed the Application for Appeal will file an opening brief.  An answering brief will be due after the opening brief is filed.  A reply brief is allowed, but not required.  Briefs must be served on all parties and include a signed certificate of service naming the parties served, the date of service, and the method of service.

  

After briefing is complete or the appeal is submitted, the appeal is considered “At Issue.”  It will then be assigned to a panel of three judges and scheduled for conference with that panel.  The Court will rule on any request for oral argument and if granted, will set the conference and oral argument on the same date.

 

The panel will issue a decision after the appeal is conferenced. There is no time limit for the panel to issue the decision, which can be in the form of a memorandum decision, an opinion, or an order.

 

Any party may file a motion for reconsideration within 15 days after the panel issues the decision or a petition for review in the Arizona Supreme Court within 30 days of the decision.  If additional time is needed to file a petition for review, a motion must be filed in the Arizona Supreme Court.