Eck v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review

651 A.2d 689, 1994 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 683
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 15, 1994
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 651 A.2d 689 (Eck v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eck v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 651 A.2d 689, 1994 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 683 (Pa. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

KELLEY, Judge.

Deana E. Eek (claimant) appeals an order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review denying her claim for benefits pursuant to sections 402(a) of the Unemployment Compensation Law (Law).1 We affirm.

The board made the following findings of fact:

1. Claimant was last employed as a clerk by the York County Sheriffs Department in the County Courthouse from August of 1991 at a final rate of $5.88 per hour, and her last day of work was April 12, 1993.
2. On April 8, 1993, the Sheriff told the claimant that she would be his Administrative Assistant/Secretary in front of approximately eight of her fellow employees. Claimant was also told that she would be getting a raise.
3. The claimant did not realize that the Sheriff was joking and informed various family and friends that she had been given a promotion.
4. On April 12, 1993, the claimant asked a fellow employee when she should move her belongings into the Sheriffs Office.
5. The fellow employee told the claimant that the Sheriff was joking.
6. The claimant became so upset that she told a fellow employee that she had to go home and then walked off the job.
7. Initially, the employer offered to create a position of Secretary to the Sheriff with an increase in pay to begin on April 13, 1993.
8. However, the claimant was too embarrassed and humiliated to take this position as Secretary to the Sheriff and called to state that she could not report to work.
9.The claimant voluntarily quit her employment on April 14, 1993, because she had been embarrassed and humiliated by the Sheriff. The claimant was informed that she could not return to work for the County for six months.
10. The claimant refused to return to work with the employees around which she was humiliated.
11. On or about April 26, 1993,
12. This position was half of a block to three quarters of a block from the claimant’s prior office.
13. This position had a considerable pay increase to $6.90 an hour from the claimant’s prior rate of pay.
14. The employer was willing to waive the requirement that the claimant could not return to work for six months.
15. The claimant refused to accept the position as Secretary to the Director of Data Processing because she allegedly would still be in contact with the Sheriffs Department.
16. The claimant would not have been in contact with the Sheriffs Department as Secretary to the Director of Data Processing.

The Job Center initially issued a determination on April 25, 1993 granting claimant benefits pursuant to section 402(b) of the Law.3 This determination was not appealed by the York County Board of Commissioners (employer); therefore, it became final and binding after fifteen days.

[692]*692On May 28, 1993, the Job Center received a letter from claimant’s employer advising the Job Center that it offered claimant suitable work on May 26, 1993, which claimant refused to accept.4 The Job Center received a follow-up letter from employer on July 22, 1993 raising the issue of claimant’s continued eligibility for benefits from the date she refused employer’s offer of suitable work.

In response, the Job Center issued a second determination granting claimant benefits pursuant to section 402(a) of the Law. The Job Center’s determination was based on York County’s policy stating that a person is not eligible for rehire until six months after leaving work and claimant’s desire not to work in close proximity to the people who had humiliated her. Reproduced Record, p. la.

The employer appealed and, following a hearing, the referee issued a decision affirming the Job Center’s determination. Thereafter, employer filed an appeal from the referee’s decision with the board. On December 1, 1993, the board remanded the case to the referee, to act as hearing officer for the board, for another hearing for the purpose of establishing additional testimony regarding the merits of the case so that the board, having allowed the further appeal, would have for its consideration complete information regarding all matters at issue. Reproduced Record, p. 28a.

On February 2, 1994, the board issued a decision and order reversing the referee and denying claimant benefits under section 402(a) of the Law. The board concluded that while claimant may have had good cause to quit her employment, she did not have good cause to refuse the offer of work as Secretary to the Director of Data Processing. The board concluded further that although the sheriffs actions may have caused claimant to suffer from some embarrassment and humiliation, the board did not believe that that justified claimant’s refusal to accept suitable work with other employers where she would have virtually no contact with the sheriff who had humiliated her. Claimant now appeals from the board’s decision.

Our scope of review is limited to affirming the board’s decision unless there was an error of law, a party’s constitutional rights were violated, or if the necessary findings of fact are not supported by substantial evidence. Kirkwood v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 106 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 92, 525 A.2d 841 (1987). The board is the ultimate fact finder and is entitled to make its own determination as to witness credibility and evidentiary weight. Peak v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 509 Pa. 267, 501 A.2d 1383 (1985).

On appeal, claimant raises the following issues for our review:

1. Where a claimant had a necessitous and compelling' reason to leave employment, must she return to suitable work offered by the same employer?
2. May a claimant refuse a new job offered by her former employer in violation of an established written policy of the employer which forbids rehires within six months of resignation?
3. Whether there is substantial evidence in the record to support the finding that employer had offered claimant suitable work?
4. Did employer violate the seven day rule to the prejudice of the claimant.

Pursuant to section 4(t) of the Law, in determining whether or not any work is suitable for an individual, consideration must be given to, inter alia, the degree of risk involved to a claimant’s health, safety and morals, his physical fitness, prior training and experience, and the distance of the available work from his residence. 43 P.S. § 753(t). The burden is on the claimant to show that the work available was not suitable and that he had good cause for the refusal. Rising v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 153 Pa.Commonwealth Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
651 A.2d 689, 1994 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 683, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eck-v-unemployment-compensation-board-of-review-pacommwct-1994.