Unemployment Benefits Appeal

Filing an Unemployment Benefits Appeal

If you received a final decision from an Unemployment Law Judge (ULJ) denying you unemployment benefits, you can appeal that decision to the Court of Appeals.

Before you appeal to the Court of Appeals, you must request reconsideration of the Unemployment Law Judge's (ULJ) initial decision before the deadline for that request. The ULJ's initial decision included instructions for requesting reconsideration. The ULJ's "ruling on a request for reconsideration" is the final decision that you can appeal to the Court of Appeals.

The Unemployment Appeal Packet includes forms and instructions for filing your appeal. If you choose to file an appeal without an attorney, it is important that you read all of the instructions carefully before you try to appeal, and that you fill out the forms completely.

The Minnesota State Law Library also hosts an Unemployment Appeal Legal Advice Clinic, where you can get free legal advice about your case from a volunteer attorney or get help filling out forms. To sign up for the Unemployment Appeal Legal Advice Clinic, call (651) 297-7651.

A copy of each form you need to fill out for this appeal is included at the end of the Unemployment Appeal Packet. The three main forms you will need to file to start your appeal are called "petition for writ of certiorari," "writ of certiorari," and "statement of the case."

The forms will ask for the names of the "relator" and the "respondents." The party who files the unemployment appeal is called the “relator.” The other parties are called the “respondents.” In an unemployment appeal, the respondents include

(1) the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), and

(2) the employer(s) (if any).

The "petition for a writ of certiorari" tells the court and the respondents that you want to appeal the ULJ’s decision.

The "writ of certiorari" is a form that the clerk’s office will sign and give back to you; once signed, it is called an “issued writ.” The writ tells DEED to send your records to the Clerk of the Appellate Courts so that the court of appeals can review them for the appeal.

The "statement of the case" is a form in which you briefly summarize the reasons you think the ULJ's decision was incorrect.

The record is the evidence used in the hearing before the ULJ and, if you asked for a new hearing in your request for reconsideration, any new evidence accepted at that hearing. The evidence in the record is the only evidence that the Court of Appeals typically looks at in an appeal.

If testimony was given at the hearing(s), DEED will prepare a transcript of the audiotape of the hearing free of charge. A transcript is a typed copy of what all of the parties and the ULJ said at your hearing.

DEED is required to serve an itemized list of the contents of the record on you and your former employer(s). DEED must serve this list on you within 30 days after DEED was served with the Petition for Writ of Certiorari, or within 14 days after the transcript is delivered to the Court of Appeals, whichever is later. If you request it, DEED will also send you a copy of all exhibits in the record, free of charge.

In an unemployment appeal, your brief is due 30 days after DEED serves you with the itemized list of the contents of the record. If DEED serves the itemized list by mail, then you have 33 days after the date that the list was mailed to file and serve your brief.

Minnesota Court of Appeals Help Topics