Has ANYONE successfully won an appeal against OAH judge's ESD decision?

I won my appeal against OAH last year, so yes, it absolutely can happen. The key is understanding that the Commissioner's Review Office is looking for legal/procedural errors in how the judge applied the law, not just rehashing the same arguments. In my case, the OAH judge misinterpreted the definition of "misconduct" under WA unemployment law. My employer claimed I violated policy, but I proved the policy was only implemented after the alleged violation. The Commissioner overturned the decision because the judge failed to properly apply the legal standard for misconduct. You need to focus your appeal on specifically WHERE and HOW the judge made errors in applying the law. Did they fail to consider relevant evidence? Did they misinterpret the legal standard for qualification? Did they make procedural errors? Be very specific in your appeal and cite the exact portions of the hearing transcript/decision where errors occurred. Don't just say "the judge was wrong" - explain precisely how they misapplied the law or failed to consider evidence.

Yup I went through this whole nightmare last year. OAH ruled against me saying I quit without good cause when my hours were cut from 40 to 10 per week!! how is anyone supposed to survive on that??! Commissioner's office DENIED my appeal too. system is RIGGED to favor employers 100%. Good luck but don't get your hopes up.

i won my appeal aginst OAH last summer!!! was so shocked when i got the letter. judge said i didnt do enough job searches but i had all my logs showing i did. commissioner agrred the judge ignored my evidence. took 4 months to get the decision but worth the wait. dont give up!!!

I work in an advocacy role helping people with unemployment appeals, and I can tell you that Commissioner's Review appeals absolutely can succeed. However, they have a specific purpose - to correct legal or procedural errors, not to simply reevaluate the facts the judge already considered. The success rate isn't high (roughly 15-20% get reversed or remanded), but that's often because people don't understand the technical nature of these appeals. You need to specifically identify where the judge misapplied the law, ignored critical evidence, or made a procedural error. A few tips based on what you've shared: 1. Focus on evidence the judge explicitly ignored (your performance reviews) 2. If the judge mischaracterized your testimony, cite the exact hearing transcript 3. Reference the specific laws/regulations about qualifying job separations 4. Request a copy of your entire hearing record if you haven't already While an attorney can help, many people successfully handle these appeals themselves if they focus on the legal/procedural errors rather than trying to reargue the facts.

I've been trying to reach ESD about my appeal for 3 weeks... keep getting disconnected or stuck on hold for hours. Has anyone found a way to actually talk to someone about appeal status?

I won my Commissioner appeal last year but it was a very specific situation. The OAH judge said I was disqualified for "misconduct" but my employer had documented that I was laid off due to "position elimination" in their HR system. The Commissioner ruled that the judge couldn't find misconduct when the employer's own records contradicted that claim. I think the key in my case was having clear, documented evidence that directly contradicted the judge's findings. If your situation is more subjective (like they believed your employer over you regarding performance), it might be harder to win on appeal. One important thing - if you haven't already, request a complete copy of your hearing record and transcript. Sometimes judges miss or misstate things in their written decisions that are clearly contradicted in the actual hearing record.

I'm concerned about some of the advice here. While Commissioner appeals can succeed, they're not simply another chance to argue your case. The Commissioner looks for legal errors, not factual disagreements. Some important points about Commissioner appeals: 1. They rarely overturn factual determinations (like credibility determinations between you and your employer) 2. They look for misapplication of law (like if the judge used the wrong legal standard for misconduct) 3. They check for procedural errors (like if you weren't allowed to present evidence) 4. The time to present evidence was at the OAH hearing - you generally can't add new evidence at this stage If the judge simply believed your employer over you regarding performance issues, that's very difficult to overturn unless you can show the judge completely ignored contradictory documentary evidence. If you're facing a large overpayment, you might also want to look into overpayment waivers or payment plans as a backup strategy if your appeal doesn't succeed.

Thank you all for the responses! Just to clarify after reading everything - the issue isn't that the judge believed my employer over me about subjective performance. It's that the judge wrote in their decision that I "failed to meet documented performance expectations" when I literally submitted emails showing positive performance reviews and meeting all goals set for me. The company eliminated 20% of positions due to funding issues, and I have an email from the CEO announcing this. But somehow the judge ignored this evidence entirely and focused only on the company's after-the-fact claim about performance. I've requested the transcript and am going to focus my appeal on the judge's failure to consider documented evidence that directly contradicted the employer's claims. I'm also looking into whether I qualify for a waiver if the appeal fails, since repaying would literally make my family homeless.

my cousin won his appeal against OAH few months back dont lose hope! but took him like 5 months to get decision which sucked

One more thing to consider - if you haven't already, check whether your case might qualify for free legal assistance. The Unemployment Law Project sometimes takes cases for appeals to the Commissioner, especially if there appears to be a clear legal error in the judge's decision. Worth checking if you qualify for their help.