IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
IN AND FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY 

JOCELYN MORALES, : 
 Appellant, : 
v.
RED OAK HEALTH CARE : 
 Appellee. : 

Submitted: March 3, 2008 

Decided: March 25, 2008 

Decision upon Appellant’s Appeal from the Decision of the 
Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board 

OPINION 

 The matter before this Court is an appeal by Jocelyn Morales ("Appellant") from a 
decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board ("Board"), in which the Board affirmed 
the Appeals Referee’s dismissal of her claim. 

Procedural History and Decision of the Board 

The Appellant’s last day of employment with Red Oak Health Care Management 
("Employer") was June 13, 2006. On June 16, the Appellant filed a claim for unemployment 
benefits with the Delaware Department of Labor ("DOL") contending she was wrongfully 
terminated from employment because of a verbal altercation with a co-worker. On July 6, a 
DOL Claims Deputy found that the Employer had just cause for terminating her employment and 
denied her claim for unemployment benefits. The Appellant filed an untimely appeal of the 
DOL determination.1 On August 14, the Appeals Referee heard the Appellant’s case on the 
issue of timeliness and determined that the timeliness requirements were waived due to error by
the DOL.2 On September 6, an evidentiary hearing was held before the same Appeals Referee, 
but the Employer did not appear. Nonetheless, the Referee found that the Appellant was 
terminated for just cause and therefore not disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits.3 

 The Employer filed an appeal from the Referee’s decision to the Board on September 16. 
On October 27, the Board remanded the matter to the Referee because the Employer did not 
attend the September 6 hearing. On November 20, both parties attended the remanded hearing.4 
On November 30, the Referee determined that the Appellant was disqualified from the receipt of 
benefits.5 On December 11, the Appellant appealed that determination.6 Following notice to 
both parties, the appeal was scheduled to be heard on January 17, 2007, at 1:00 p.m.7 The 
Appellant failed to appear at that hearing.8 The Board dismissed the appeal. Its decision was 
mailed to both parties on January 19, 2007.9 

The Appellant filed a request for rehearing with the Board on January 23.10 The reason 
she cited for her absence from the hearing was that she did not receive proper notice. She stated 
that she appeared at the DOL on January 18, 2007, and was told the hearing was on the 17th. 
Her request for a rehearing was denied. The Board noted in its decision that there was "no 
Department error which could have caused the notice to be received untimely."11 On February 
16, 2007, the Appellant filed a timely appeal from the Board’s decision. 

Standard of Review 

The Board is given much latitude when ruling on an appeal from a dismissal by an 
Appeals Referee.12 The decision of whether to reopen and remand a matter dismissed for failing 
to appear is within the sound discretion of the Board.13 In the absence of any abuse of 
discretion, the Court must uphold the Board’s de

Discussion 

The record shows that proper and timely notice of the hearing on January 17, 2007, was 
mailed to the Appellant at her current mailing address, the same address at which she had 
received prior notices to appear. Appellant failed to appear at the scheduled hearing. Her failure 
to appear at the scheduled hearing is reasonable grounds for the Board to dismiss the case. The 
Board did not abuse its discretion by denying the Appellant’s request for rehearing. 

Furthermore, the Appellant is not entitled to seek judicial review of the merits of her case 
because she has failed to exhaust the administrative remedies available to her. Delaware Code 
provides that "judicial review thereof as provided in this subchapter shall be permitted only after 
any party claiming to be aggrieved thereby has exhausted all administrative remedies as provided 
by this chapter."15 This Court is without jurisdiction to address the merits of a case on appeal 
when a party has failed to exhaust its administrative remedies by failing to appear at a Board 
hearing.16 

The decision of the Board is hereby AFFIRMED. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

 _________________________ 

 Judge Susan C. Del Pesco