40 Tex. Admin. Code § 815.17 - Appeals to the Commission from Decisions
(a)
The presentation of an appeal to the Commission.
(1) A party of interest may appeal a decision
of the Appeal Tribunal. A party appealing from a decision of an appeal tribunal
shall file the appeal by hand delivery, mail, common carrier, facsimile (fax)
transmission, or other method approved by the Agency in writing. A written
appeal that is sent to the Agency should be addressed to the Texas Workforce
Commission, 101 East 15th Street, Austin, Texas, 78778-0001, or faxed to the
number provided in the decision. A written appeal may be hand delivered to the
Texas Workforce Commission, 101 East 15th Street, Austin, Texas 78778-0001, a
local office of the Agency, or an agent state, or a workforce center or an
office of a Board. The appeal should identify the decision of the appeal
tribunal being appealed, the basis for the appeal, the name of the party
appealing, and the date of the appeal. The provisions of §
815.32 of this chapter (relating
to Timeliness) shall determine on what date the appeal was filed.
(2) When an appeal to the Commission is
filed, all evidence and records pertaining to the appeal shall be submitted to
the Commission for its review.
(b) Commission action may include one or more
actions as described in this subsection.
(1)
The Commission may, without further hearing, affirm, reverse or modify any
decision of an appeal tribunal on the basis of the record made before the
appeal tribunal.
(2) The Commission
may grant a further hearing on the matter and notify the parties to appear
before the Commission, or before a representative of the Agency designated to
hold hearings for the Commission, at a specified time and place for the purpose
of presenting additional evidence and arguments; or the Commission may direct
an appeal tribunal to take additional evidence necessary for the proper
disposition of the appeal. All hearings conducted by the Commission, or before
a representative of the Agency designated to hold hearings for the Commission,
shall be conducted in the manner prescribed by §
815.16 of this chapter (relating
to Appeals to Appeal Tribunals from Determinations). Upon completion of the
taking of additional evidence, the complete record involved in the appeal shall
be returned to the Commission for its decision.
(3) The Commission may remand a case to the
appeal tribunal for the appeal tribunal to hold a de novo hearing. The appeal
tribunal shall set aside the prior appeal tribunal decision and issue a new
decision. The new decision shall be subject to all the provisions relating to
appeals contained in the Act, in this section, in §
815.15 of this chapter (relating
to Parties with Appeal Rights), in §
815.16 of this chapter (relating
to Appeals to Appeal Tribunals from Determinations), and in §
815.18 of this chapter (relating
to General Rules for Both Appeal Stages), just as any other appeal tribunal
decision.
(c) Assumption
of jurisdiction on the Commission's own motion. Within 14 days following the
mailing of a decision of an appeal tribunal, and in the absence of the filing
of an appeal to the Commission by a party of interest, the Commission may on
its own motion acquire jurisdiction of the appeal and act as though a party of
interest had filed an appeal.
(d)
Cases removed from an appeal tribunal. The Commission may remove to itself any
appeal pending before an appeal tribunal. In that event, the Commission may
proceed to decide the case on the evidence previously submitted, may schedule a
hearing conducted by the Commission or its designee, or may direct the appeal
tribunal to take any additional evidence the Commission deems
necessary.
(e) The determination of
appeals.
(1) The Commission shall render its
decision with respect to an appeal as soon as possible after reviewing the
case. The decision shall be in writing and shall reflect the names of the
members of the Commission who participated in the review.
(2) If a decision of the Commission is not
unanimous, the decision of the majority shall control, but the minority member
may file a dissent from the decision.
(3) A copy of the Commission's decision shall
be mailed to the parties.
(f) Motions for rehearing.
(1) A motion for rehearing may be filed by
hand delivery, mail, common carrier, facsimile (fax) transmission, or other
method approved by the Agency in writing. A motion for rehearing that is sent
to the Agency should be addressed to the Texas Workforce Commission, 101 East
15th Street, Austin, Texas, 78778-0001, or faxed to the number provided in the
decision. A written motion may be hand delivered to the Texas Workforce
Commission, 101 East 15th Street, Austin, Texas 78778-0001, a local office of
the Agency, or an agency state, or a workforce center or an office of a Board.
The provisions of §
815.32 of this chapter (related to
Timeliness) shall determine on what date the motion was filed.
(2) A motion for rehearing shall not be
granted unless each of the following three criteria is met:
(A) there is an offering of new evidence,
which was not presented at the appeal tribunal level;
(B) there is a compelling reason why the
evidence was not presented earlier; and
(C) there is a specific explanation of how
consideration of the evidence would change the outcome of the case.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions
of paragraph (2) of this subsection, a rehearing may be granted in the
following two situations.
(A) When a party of
interest did not appear before the appeal tribunal, nevertheless won at that
level, and then received an adverse ruling at the Commission level, the
Commission may grant a rehearing to consider whether there was good cause for
the nonappearance. If good cause is found, the rehearing shall address the
merits of the case.
(B) When a
solely jurisdictional or procedural problem is not detected or recognized until
after the Commission decision has been issued, the Commission may take
appropriate action to correct the problem at the motion for rehearing
level.
(4) The
Commission shall deny a request for rehearing unless it can be shown there are
substantial reasons for the Commission to grant the rehearing.
Notes
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