Youn v. State

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed
Intermediate Court of Appeals
CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
24-JUL-2025
08:40 AM
Dkt. 54 SO
NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI I

ERIC YOUN, Claimant-Appellant-Appellant, v.
STATE OF HAWAI I, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS,
EMPLOYMENT SECURITY APPEALS REFEREES' OFFICE,
Respondent-Appellee-Appellee

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT
(CIVIL NO. 1CCV-XX-XXXXXXX)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
(By: Leonard, Presiding Judge, Hiraoka and Wadsworth, JJ.)
Claimant-Appellant-Appellant Eric Youn (Youn) appeals
from the March 8, 2023 Final Judgment (Judgment) entered by the
Circuit Court of the First Circuit (Circuit Court).1 Youn also
challenges the Circuit Court's March 8, 2023 Order Affirming
Employment Security Appeals Referees' Office's [(ESARO's)]
Decision 2201667 (Reopened) Dated August 4, 2022 (Order Affirming
Decision).
Youn raises a single point of error on appeal,
contending that the Circuit Court erred in affirming ESARO's
August 4, 2022 Decision in the Matter of: 2201667 (Reopened)
(ESARO Decision) because the method of calculating Youn's wages
was incorrect.
Upon careful review of the record and the briefs
submitted by the parties, and having given due consideration to
the arguments advanced and the issues raised, we resolve Youn's
point of error as follows:

1
The Honorable James H. Ashford presided.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Youn argues that he met the requirement of being
unemployed for the weeks in question.
Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 383-1 (2015) provides,
in part:
"Unemployment". An individual shall be deemed
"unemployed" in any week during which the individual
performs no services and with respect to which no wages are
payable to the individual, or in any week of less than
full-time work if the wages payable to the individual with
respect to such week are less than the individual's weekly
benefit amount.

(Emphasis added).
Youn's claim for unemployment insurance benefits
(Benefits) was based on the latter (underlined) clause. However,
the State of Hawai i Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
(DLIR), Unemployment Insurance Division (UID), determined that
Youn was not entitled to Benefits during certain periods because
he was not unemployed during those periods. Specifically, UID
determined Youn was not entitled to Benefits for the weeks ending
on February 22, 2020, to March 28, 2020; June 6, 2020, to
August 29, 2020; and October 10, 2020, to February 27, 2021,
because he earned more than his weekly benefit amount of $648,
based on the weekly earnings reported by Youn's employer. Youn
appealed and ESARO affirmed.
Youn works as Contributing Faculty at Walden
University, LLC (Walden) and testified that he is paid monthly
and by the task, rather than having an hourly rate provided by
his employer. Youn calculates his weekly income using a formula
of his own creation, which he revises every two years to account
for changes in how much Walden pays for a given task. Youn's
testimony concerning his earnings was deemed not credible based
on information provided by Walden that showed Youn significantly
underreported his earnings for the subject periods. Youn
testified that he experienced "connectivity issues" with the DLIR
website, which affected his ability to accurately report his
weekly wages, or that the underreporting may have been due to
server error.
Ultimately, ESARO explained its reasoning in the ESARO
Decision, stating in part:

2
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

[Youn] argued he used a formula for calculating his weekly
gross earnings. He argued he did not know about any
discrepancy between the earnings he reported on his weekly
claim certifications and the amounts [Walden] actually paid
him until approximately March 2021, when the UID stopped
paying him benefits and alerted him. He argued he did not
discover the discrepancy earlier because he did not check
his formula or check his monthly earnings statements from
[Walden] to ensure the accuracy of his weekly claims
certifications. He argued on appeal that he had provided
the information on his amended weekly claims certifications
originally, but somehow, "connectivity issues" prevented the
amended information from being recorded. He argued to the
UID claims examiner that the discrepancy was caused by his
rushing and hunting for Wi-Fi. He argued he subsequently
amended his weekly claim certifications based on his
personal work records. He argued dividing his monthly gross
earnings by the 4 or 5 weeks in a particular month would not
yield an accurate result. However, [Youn] never offered any
alternative amounts other than what he provided on his
weekly claim certifications and amended weekly claim
certifications. . . .

Although [Youn] and [Walden] both provided information about
[Youn's] weekly gross earnings, [Youn's] testimony could not
be credited since it was determined [Youn's] testimony
regarding his weekly gross earnings was false. . . . Hence,
credibility was accorded to [Walden's] evidence.
The record supports the Circuit Court's determination
that ESARO's findings, including that Youn was not unemployed
during the subject periods, are not clearly erroneous. On this
record, we will not disturb ESARO's assessment that Youn was not
credible. Accordingly, we conclude that the Circuit Court did
not err in entering the Order Affirming Decision.
Therefore, the Circuit Court's March 8, 2023 Judgment
is affirmed.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawai i, July 24, 2025.

On the briefs: /s/ Katherine G. Leonard
Presiding Judge
Pablo P. Quiban,
for Claimant-Appellant- /s/ Keith K. Hiraoka
Appellant. Associate Judge

Li-Ann Yamashiro, /s/ Clyde J. Wadsworth
Carissa A. Goto, Associate Judge
Deputy Attorneys General,
for Respondent-Appellee-
Appellee.

3