Hat Six Homes, Inc. v. State of Wyoming, Department of Labor, Unemployment Insurance Commission

After quitting her situation at Hat Six Homes, Inc. (Hat Six), Dawn Welch (Welch) filed for unemployment benefits under Wyoming law. The Wyoming Department of Employment, Unemployment Insurance Commission (Commission) referred the case to an appeals examiner to make findings of fact and determine the correct application of the law. The first question for this Court to resolve is the sufficiency of the evidence in the contested case hearing to sustain the findings of fact by the appeals examiner. That determination leads to a corollary issue concerning the failure of Hat Six to sustain its burden of establishing the statutory factors articulated in Wyo. Stat. Ann. 27-3-104(b) (Lexis 1999), which it must do to exclude Welch from the status of an employee for purposes of unemployment benefits. Ultimately, the Commission ruled that Welch was entitled to benefits, and Hat Six brought the case before the district court for judicial review of the decision of the agency. The district court entered an order affirming the agency, and Hat Six appealed to this Court. We hold that there is sufficient evidence to support the findings of fact made by the appeals examiner, and those findings of fact support the ruling that Hat Six did not satisfy its burden of proving the requisite statutory factors to exclude Welch from the status of an employee. The Order Affirming Agency Decision entered in the district court is affirmed.