Angel Medflight Worldwide Air Ambulance Service v. SAIF Corporation

Under ORS 183.482(8)(c), a factual finding is supported by substantial evidence so long as the “record, when viewed as a whole, would permit a reasonable person to make that finding.”

Petitioners appealed an order from the Department of Consumer and Business Services in which the Director concluded that the respondent had established good cause for its untimely filing of a request for hearing. Petitioners assigned error to the director’s determination that the respondent established “excusable neglect” for its late hearing request, arguing that the substantial evidence did not support the conclusion. On appeal, Petitioners argued that a reasonable person in the Director’s position could not have found that the respondent had demonstrated, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the missed deadline was the fault of someone not responsible for deciding whether a request for a hearing should be filed. In response, Respondents argued that it is reasonable to infer from the evidence that the respondent received documents, but not the order, and that Snider and Martinez were unaware of the order until late May, therefore the missed deadline was the result of someone who was not responsible for deciding whether to request a hearing. The Appellate Court reviewed the Director's final order for substantial evidence and substantial reason. Under ORS 183.482(8)(c), a factual finding is supported by substantial evidence so long as the “record, when viewed as a whole, would permit a reasonable person to make that finding.” The Court held that since the record fails to provide any indication that Snider and Martinez were the only persons capable of handling the document, a reasonable person could not have found that the document was misplaced by someone who “was not responsible for deciding whether a request for a hearing should be filed.”