to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. On April 3, 1984, the hearing referee ordered appellees to show cause in writing why the charge and complaint should not be dismissed as requested. The previously scheduled hearing was adjourned without date, and appellees were given until April 24, 1984, to file a written response. Appellees, who up to then had appeared in propria persona, retained counsel who filed an appearance on April 12, 1984, and subsequently received at least a twenty-day extension for appellees' response. The twenty-day extension passed without the filing of a written response.
On June 8, 1984, the hearing referee, sua sponte, issued a decision recommending that the MERC dismiss the charge because appellees had failed to comply with the order to show cause,president himself testified that, although his lawyers had drafted the "agreement" and had directed the general manager to obtain Wysocki's signature, he had never seen the document executed and that to his knowledge Wysocki never signed it and "it could very well have been unsigned." The company's general manager at the time, who negotiated the terms of Wysocki's employment, testified that Wysocki never executed the written agreement to reimburse and that its terms did not accurately reflect the true terms of Wysocki's employment.
The only testimony in support of the company's position that Wysocki had signed an agreement to reimburse was that of the company's administrative manager. She said she had seen Wysocki's signature on the original agreement but that it was now unavailable because someone had broken into