2.3Michigan Employment Security Act¹

The Michigan Employment Security Act (MESA) addresses venue and sets forth its own scope of judicial review of decisions by an administrative law judge (ALJ) and the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission (MCAC). MCL 421.38(1). See Section 2.1(D) for information on venue and Section 2.1(B) regarding judicial review.

Procedures specific to appeals under the MESA are set forth in MCR 7.116. Unless provided otherwise in MCR 7.116, the rules set out in MCR 7.101—MCR 7.115 apply. MCR 7.116(A).² A party must file “[a]n appeal of right from an order or decision of the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission . . . within 30 days after the mailing of the commission’s decision.” MCR 7.116(B); see also MCL 421.38(1). “[T]he claim of appeal shall conform with MCR 7.104 and must include statements of jurisdiction and venue,”³ and “proof that the claim of appeal was served on the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission and all interested parties must be filed in the circuit court.” MCR 7.116(C). “The unemployment agency is a party to any appeal under MCL 421.38(3), but the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission is not[.]” MCR 7.116(C).

The appellee must file an appearance within 14 days of being served with the claim of appeal. MCR 7.116(E).

A.Record on Appeal

“Within 42 days after the claim of appeal is served on the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission, or within further time as the circuit court allows, the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission must transmit to the clerk of the circuit court a certified copy of the record of proceedings before the administrative law judge and the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission,” and “notify the parties that the record was transmitted.” MCR 7.116(F).

“The circuit court . . . did not err when it considered the certified record presented by the MCAC in its entirety,” including “files of the [Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency] that were not presented to the ALJ”; “[b]ecause MCR 7.116 does not otherwise limit the scope of the record on appeal, the general definition of ‘record on appeal’ from an agency decision in MCR 7.109(A)(2) applies,” and “the record before the circuit court [therefore] properly included ‘all documents, files, pleadings, testimony, and opinions and orders’ of the tribunal and the agency.” Lawrence v Mich Unemployment Ins Agency, 320 Mich App 422, 432-435 (2017) (quoting MCR 7.210(A)(2) and noting that “[w]hile this expansive definition seemingly conflicts with the limited scope of the record described in MCL 421.34 and MCL 421.38” of the MESA, a court rule prevails in a purely procedural conflict between a court rule and a statute).

B.Standard of Review

The circuit court “may reverse an order or decision of the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission only if it finds that the order or decision is contrary to law or is not supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence on the whole record.” MCR 7.116(G). See also MCL 421.38(1). “Substantial evidence is that which a reasonable mind would accept as adequate to support a decision. Substantial evidence is more than a mere scintilla but less than a preponderance of the evidence.” Trumble’s Rent-L-Center, Inc v Employment Security Comm, 197 Mich App 229, 233 (1992) (internal citation omitted).

“A reviewing court is not at liberty to substitute its own judgment for a decision of the MCAC that is supported with substantial evidence.” Hodge v US Security Assoc, Inc, 497 Mich 189, 193-194 (2015). “The Court of Appeals then reviews a circuit court’s decision to determine whether the lower court applied correct legal principles and whether it misapprehended or misapplied the substantial evidence test to the agency’s factual findings[.]” Id. at 194-195 (“the circuit court erred when it discounted the stated policy of [plaintiff’s] employer and, instead, credited [plaintiff] with complying with a nonexistent policy”) (quotation marks and citation omitted).