Bombard v. Department of Labor

2010 VT 100, 12 A.3d 533, 189 Vt. 528, 2010 Vt. LEXIS 102
CourtSupreme Court of Vermont
DecidedNovember 8, 2010
Docket2009-380, MAY TERM, 2010
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2010 VT 100 (Bombard v. Department of Labor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Vermont primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bombard v. Department of Labor, 2010 VT 100, 12 A.3d 533, 189 Vt. 528, 2010 Vt. LEXIS 102 (Vt. 2010).

Opinions

¶ 1. Claimant appeals the denial of his request for unemployment benefits. On appeal, claimant argues that the hostile work environment at his job provided good cause to quit, and that the Board’s conclusion otherwise is not supported by the findings. We disagree, and affirm.

¶ 2. The facts found by the Board can be summarized as follows. Claimant worked for employer Fisher Auto Parts, Inc. for nineteen months until he quit on May 4, 2009. His work tenure began at employer’s Burlington store, where his manager had a volatile temper, at times throwing items around the store. During one angry episode, the manager used profane and threatening language towards claimant. Claimant reported this behavior to the regional manager, who [529]*529responded by transferring claimant to employer’s store in Essex. Unfortunately, the manager at the Essex store also had anger problems, a fact employer knew prior to transferring claimant. Claimant had been there only a couple of weeks, when on April 23, 2009, the Essex store manager engaged in a day-long argument with his wife over the phone, during which he shouted, threw things on the floor and around the store, and drove off multiple times, only to return still arguing with his wife. Unable to discuss this behavior with the store manager directly because the manager was so angry and unapproachable, claimant called the regional manager and left a voice mail message indicating they needed to talk. No one called back. The regional manager does not remember receiving this message.

¶ 3. On April 30, the store manager again became angry and upset. He told claimant that he was fed up and wanted to get a gun, climb a tower, and shoot a hundred people. Claimant was so disturbed by this statement that the following day, on his way to work, he decided he was too frightened to return because of what the manager might do. Claimant called in and claimed he could not work because his father had a heart attack. The next work day, Monday May 4, claimant went to work and arrived to find the regional manager present at the store. Claimant met with the regional manager and described the Essex store manager’s angry behavior, characterizing the store manager as unstable. Claimant did not, however, mention his local manager’s threat to shoot a hundred people. The regional manager responded that things are “going to get worse” and that claimant had to make a decision. Feeling like nothing would be done to correct his supervisor’s behavior, claimant quit a few minutes later.

¶ 4. Claimant filed for unemployment compensation benefits. This request was denied, and claimant appealed. At a hearing before a referee, claimant described the problems with his managers in employer’s Burlington and Essex stores. The referee listened to claimant’s testimony, but refused to admit additional evidence regarding the behavior of the manager in the Burlington store since claimant was no longer in that store or working for that manager when he quit. Claimant’s regional manager testified. He verified there were complaints about the tempers of both the Burlington manager and the Essex manager, and testified that he handled claimant’s concerns about the Burlington manager’s anger problems by speaking with the manager. The regional manager also testified that he knew the store manager in Essex had a volatile temper before he transferred claimant to that store. Employer’s response to that problem was also to speak to the store manager.

¶ 5. While accepting claimant’s version of the facts, the referee denied the claim, finding that claimant did not give his employer an opportunity to correct the problem before quitting. The referee concluded that claimant “neither demonstrated that any reasonable person would have been compelled to quit without notice under the circumstances, or that the employer would have been [un]responsive to his concerns.” Claimant appealed to the Board. The Board agreed with claimant that his supervisor had engaged in inappropriate behavior, but concluded that claimant failed to establish that the misbehavior was so egregious as to justify quitting without notice to employer or to establish, in the alternative, that complainant afforded his employer the opportunity to address the working conditions before quitting. Claimant appeals.

¶ 6. On appeal, claimant does not challenge the Board’s findings, but argues that its findings do not support the Board’s conclusion. Our task in reviewing the Department’s decision requires, therefore, a determination of whether, [530]*530under the facts found, claimant voluntarily left without good cause attributable to the employer. See 21 V.S.A. § 1344(a) (2)(A) (voluntary termination is grounds for denying unemployment benefits absent good cause attributable to employer). This standard entails two considerations: first, whether there was “a sufficient reason to justify the quit,” and second, whether the reason was “attributable to the employing unit.” Allen v. Dep’t of Emp’t & Training, 159 Vt. 286, 289, 618 A.2d 1317, 1319 (1992) (quotation omitted). The burden is on the employee to prove both aspects of this analysis. Lynch v. Dep’t of Emp’t & Training, 2005 VT 114, ¶ 4, 179 Vt. 542, 890 A.2d 93 (mem.); Skudlarek v. Dep’t of Emp’t & Training, 160 Vt. 277, 280, 627 A.2d 340, 342 (1993). “Unless it can be demonstrated that the Board was erroneous in its findings and conclusions, we must uphold its decision.” Rushlow v. Dep’t of Emp’t & Training, 144 Vt. 328, 330, 476 A.2d 139, 141 (1984) (citations omitted).

¶ 7. Because claimant initiated the separation from employment, it is his burden to demonstrate that his decision to quit was for good cause. Lynch, 2005 VT 114, ¶ 4. Generally, to determine good cause, we consider “what a reasonable person would have done in the same circumstances.” Isabelle v. Dep’t of Emp’t & Training, 150 Vt. 458, 460, 554 A.2d 660, 661 (1988). There is no bright-line threshold in our law defining an intolerable working environment such that good cause to quit exists as a matter of law. Rather, we analyze each situation individually.

¶ 8. Our first point of analysis is whether claimant had sufficient reason to justify quitting his job. Examining the events at the Essex store, the Board found that claimant lacked sufficient reason to quit. For one thing, the Department found that the two incidents at the Essex store were not directed at claimant. Further, the Department found that the Essex manager’s outburst about shooting a hundred people was more likely a matter of “blowing off steam” than an actual and imminent threat. The Department ultimately decided that claimant did not meet his burden to prove good cause because he had not “demonstrated that any reasonable person would have been compelled to quit without notice under the circumstances.” This conclusion is supported by claimant’s return to the job within two days of the declared threat.

¶ 9. Even assuming the local manager’s generalized threats of violence could have been sufficient grounds to quit, the same cannot be attributed to employer, which was uninformed about such misconduct.

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Related

St. Martin v. Department of Labor
2012 VT 8 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 2012)
Bombard v. Department of Labor
2010 VT 100 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 2010)
State v. Settle
442 A.2d 1314 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2010 VT 100, 12 A.3d 533, 189 Vt. 528, 2010 Vt. LEXIS 102, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bombard-v-department-of-labor-vt-2010.