CUB 65288

PAUL ROULEAU, Chief Umpire Designate

The claimant appealed from the decision of the Board of Referees given on June 20, 2001. Her notice of appeal was received by the Commission on November 8, 2005, that is, after the expiry of the 60-day period provided in section 116 of the Employment Insurance Act.

Section 116 reads as follows:

116. The appeal must be brought in the prescribed manner within 60 days after the decision is communicated to the person bringing the appeal, or any longer period that the umpire may allow for special reasons.

The case law provides that a longer period may be allowed for humanitarian reasons or for reasons beyond the claimant's control. Ignorance of the appeal process, forgetting, and negligence do not constitute "special reasons."

In this case, the claimant argues that she did not receive either the notice of hearing or the decision of the Board of Referees with respect to her appeal. She thought her bankruptcy had cancelled her debt. She only learned in November 2005 that she still owed money to the Commission when her GST refund was used to partially repay her debt.

In this case, although the period of the delay is considerable, the claimant's explanation appears reasonable to me. I question how it happened that the Commission's recovery section did not take steps sooner to recover the amount of the overpayment. It appears evident to me that the claimant filed her appeal as soon as she realized that her bankruptcy had not erased her debt to the Commission.

Consequently, given that the claimant never had the opportunity to submit arguments, this case is returned to a differently constituted Board for a new decision. The Board's decision dated June 20, 2001, shall be removed from the appeal docket.

Paul Rouleau

UMPIRE

OTTAWA, Ontario
February 15, 2006