Antwan v. Illinois Department of Employment Security

── Antwan v. Illinois Department of Employment Security ── Court: Appellate Court of Illinois Date: April 24, 2026 Category: General 2026 IL App (1st) 242302-U No. 1-24-2302 SIXTH DIVISION April 24, 2026 NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1). ______________________________________________________________________________ IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________ MONA ANTWAN, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellant, Cook County. ) v. ) No. 24 L 50294 ) ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT ) SECURITY, Honorable ) John A. Simon, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge, presiding. JUSTICE PUCINSKI delivered the judgment of the court. Justices C.A. Walker and Gamrath concurred in the judgment. ORDER ¶1 Held: The circuit court’s order dismissing plaintiff’s untimely complaint for administrative review is affirmed. ¶2 Plaintiff-Appellant, Mona Antwan, appeals pro se from an order of the circuit court of Cook County dismissing her pro se complaint for administrative review of an Illinois Department of Employment Security (Department). The circuit court dismissed for lack of  No. 1-24-2302 subject matter jurisdiction, finding that plaintiff failed to file her complaint by the 35-day statutory deadline under the Administrative Review Law (735 ILCS 5/3-101 et seq. (West 2024)). ¶3 On appeal, Antwan challenges the dismissal of her action, arguing that she has been deprived of due process because, inter alia, she did not receive a copy of the Board of Review’s final administrative decision denying her appeal before the administrative body until several months after it had been mailed. She asserts that dismissing her case was “unjust” where she lacked a copy of the final decision despite allegedly contacting the department several times regarding the status of the case over the course of a year. Antwan also argues that she was deprived of due process at the administrative level, claiming that she was denied an opportunity to meaningfully participate in her appeal due to the Department’s failure to communicate procedural deadlines. Antwan ultimately seeks a reversal of the Department’s benefits ineligibility determination, or, alternatively, a remand of the case for a rehearing where she may present additional evidence. ¶4 In a January 25, 2023 decision, following an evidentiary hearing, a Department referee determined that Antwan was not an unemployed individual between March 28, 2021 and May 29, 2021 and between July 4, 2021 and August 14, 2021 and was thus ineligible for unemployment insurance benefits for the same period. ¶5 On February 15, 2023, Antwan filed an appeal before the Department’s Board of Review (