Unemployment claimants must follow stricter court-review filing rules

A person seeking court review of an unemployment benefits decision must serve a petition that follows the listed state law and civil-procedure rules. This applies to an appellant seeking review of a Board of Review decision in district court. The petition must state the reasons for seeking review and be served on the Employment Security Division Administrator or the Administrator's designee. Service on the Administrator counts as service on all parties, but copies must be left for the defendants and mailed to them. The petition does not need to be verified. The petition must be served within 45 days after the court action begins. These rules apply to petitions filed on or after the act's effective date.

The court must dismiss an appeal when the appellant fails to serve a compliant petition on time, and the appellant must correct defects after a dismissal motion. The rules apply when an appellant's petition is missing, defective, or served incorrectly in an unemployment benefits review case. The Administrator may ask the court to dismiss the case within 45 days after receiving the petition if it does not meet the requirements. The appellant must correct every defect within 10 business days after the motion is filed. The court must dismiss the case if it finds defects that were not corrected on time, and it may not excuse the 10-business-day deadline. The Administrator's dismissal motion must be filed within 45 days after receiving the petition, and the appellant's correction period begins when that motion is filed.