Schultz v. Division of Employment Security

**What This Case Was About** A worker named Schultz lost his job at CPC Logistics and applied for special unemployment benefits called trade readjustment allowances. These benefits are available to workers who lose jobs due to foreign trade. However, Schultz filed his application after a deadline had passed. He argued he should still get benefits for the time before he officially filed because the state employment agency failed to give him required information about these benefits when he first applied for regular unemployment. **What the Court Decided** The court ruled against Schultz and upheld the state's decision to deny him benefits for the period before his official filing date. Even though the court acknowledged that the state agency had failed to provide required information to Schultz, it rejected his arguments that this failure should excuse the late filing or that he should be treated as if he had filed earlier. **What This Means for Workers** This ruling shows that strict deadlines for special unemployment benefits may be enforced even when government agencies fail to properly inform workers about available programs. Workers should proactively research all available benefits and file applications as early as possible, rather than relying solely on information provided by state agencies during their initial unemployment claims.