Section 18(d)(2)
TAX RATE, Late protest, Employer negligence
CITE AS: MESC v Regis Associates, unpublished memorandum Mich App, May 27, 1994 (No. 162000).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: N/A
Employer: Regis Associates
Docket No. L90-08433-2113
COURT OF APPEALS HOLDING: Where employer's agent advised it to file a late quarterly report and it nonetheless failed to do so, this was negligence on employer's part and it did not establish good cause for late protest of its contribution rate.
FACTS: Employer filed an untimely protest of its contribution rate. Employer claimed its agent was negligent for failing to timely file a quarterly report. However, the agent advised employer to file the late quarterly report within the 30 day extension period provided in Section 18(d)(2) but the employer failed to follow this advice.
DECISION: No good cause shown, contribution rate determination became final.
RATIONALE: "Had plaintiff filed the report when advised to do so by its agent, no protest would have been necessary under Section 18(d)(2) of the MESA."
Editor's Note: This case was decided one year before the court of Appeals decision in Bennett Fuel, see Digest 2.15. The Regis panel of the Court of Appeals expressly distinguished Bennett Fuel, which had been decided by the Kent Circuit Court and was then pending at the Court of Appeals, on the basis the Bennett Fuel employer did not receive the rate determination in question because of an employee's wrongful action.
7/99
19, 20: E