Molina v. Commissioner of Social Security

The defendant administrator of the Unemployment Compensation Act, who had determined that the plaintiff was ineligible for unemployment benefits, appealed from the trial court's decision remanding the plaintiff's unemploy- ment compensation action to the Board of Review of the Employment Security Appeals Division for reconsideration by its appeals referee of the decision denying the plaintiff's motion to open the referee's decision dismiss- ing her appeal as untimely. The defendant claimed, inter alia, that the court exceeded its limited scope of judicial review in making factual findings and in substituting its judgment for that of the board. Held: The trial court improperly exceeded its limited scope of judicial review by finding facts beyond those contained in the certified record and by relying on its improper findings in examining the board's decision, and, on the basis of the controlling factual findings set forth in the certified record, this court could not conclude that the board acted unreasonably, arbitrarily, illegally, or in abuse of its discretion in affirming the referee's denial of the motion to open. Argued November 17—officially released December 30, 2025