Fekos Enterprises v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review

776 A.2d 1018, 2001 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 280, 2001 WL 460735
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 3, 2001
Docket128 C.D. 2000, 129 C.D. 2000
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 776 A.2d 1018 (Fekos Enterprises 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
Fekos Enterprises v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 776 A.2d 1018, 2001 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 280, 2001 WL 460735 (Pa. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

LEADBETTER, Judge.

In these consolidated appeals, Fekos Enterprises (employer) challenges two orders of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Board) affirming the grant of benefits to two Fekos employees. 1

In the first case, claimant Mary J. Sciar-etta quit her job with employer in May of 1999 and applied for unemployment benefits. The job center disapproved benefits, finding that Sciaretta had not proven a necessitous and compelling reason for leaving her job.

Sciaretta appealed the job center’s determination and a hearing before a referee was scheduled. Although the job center sent notice of the hearing, employer failed to send a representative. Based on Sciar-etta’s testimony, the referee concluded that she had left her job for a necessitous and compelling reason and reversed the determination of the job center, granting benefits under Section 402(b) of the Unemployment Compensation Law. 2

Employer appealed the determination of the referee to the Board, claiming never to have been notified of the hearing. The Board remanded the matter to the referee for additional testimony on the issue of employer’s failure to appear and the merits of the case. Eventually, the Board found that employer had not shown good *1020 cause for not attending the first hearing, declined to hear employer’s evidence on the merits of the case, and affirmed the referee’s initial determination.

In the second case, claimant Edwin K. Woodson last worked for Fekos in the Arb/s restaurant at the Pittsburgh International Airport on July 1, 1999 and applied for unemployment benefits on July 25, 1999. The job center issued a notice of determination approving benefits, which, due to employer’s failure to provide information, was based solely on Woodson’s statement that he was dismissed because of a dispute involving the whereabouts of a payroll.

Employer appealed the job center’s determination. At a hearing before the referee, employer offered testimony that Woodson voluntarily terminated his employment. The referee remanded the matter to the job center for further investigation into whether Woodson had quit or been discharged.

The job center issued a second determination granting benefits and employer again appealed. After a second hearing, the referee determined that employer made the decision to end the employment relationship and approved benefits. Employer appealed to the Board, which affirmed the decision of the referee and granted benefits.

As a prefatory matter, we address the Board’s motion to strike employer’s petitions for review. There is no merit in the Board’s contention that employer’s petitions for review are insufficient to preserve any issues in the instant appeals. Rule 1513 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure sets forth the required contents of a petition for review. A petition for review must contain “a general statement of the objections to the order or other determination.” (emphasis added). The statement of objections is deemed to include “every subsidiary question fairly comprised therein.” Id.

We agree with employer that the petitions, while inartfully drafted, contain objections to the Board’s conclusions. In particular, the petition in the Sciaretta case appears to challenge the Board’s conclusion that her quitting was the result of a necessitous and compelling reason. Likewise, the petition in the Woodson case may be construed as objecting to the Board’s conclusion that Woodson was dismissed. We therefore deny the Board’s motion to strike employer’s petitions for review.

With regard to the first case, employer argues that Sciaretta is not entitled to benefits because her reasons for leaving her job with employer were insufficient under Section 402(b) of the Unemployment Compensation Law, 43 P.S. § 802(b). Section 402(b) renders a claimant who quits work voluntarily without necessitous and compelling reason ineligible to receive unemployment benefits. Id. Thus, a claimant who alleges that she has left a job for necessitous and compelling reasons has the burden of establishing the existence of necessitous and compelling reason for leaving her employment. Taylor v. Unemployment Compensation Bd. of Review, 474 Pa. 351, 355, 378 A.2d 829, 831 (1977). Such reasons must result from “circumstances which produce pressure to terminate employment that is both real and substantial, and which would compel a reasonable person under the circumstances to act in the same manner.” Id. at 359, 378 A.2d at 832-33. 3

*1021 At the initial hearing, Sciaretta testified that she had had repeated problems with paychecks from employer. When one paycheck bounced in January of 1999, employer failed to issue a replacement check until April 1999. Sciaretta testified that she was forced to take her paychecks to employer’s bank to be cashed because of employer’s failure to maintain adequate balances in its account to cover the checks. Sciaretta also testified that she was required to work shifts ten to twelve hours in length with only a few hours between shifts, no breaks, and no assistance. When she complained about her hours, she was given “write-ups” for other things. The referee made findings of fact reiterating Sciaretta’s complaints, which were affirmed by the Board. Since the findings are supported by substantial evidence, they are conclusive. Id.

In Emgee Engineering v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 30 Pa.Cmwlth. 290, 373 A.2d 779, 782 (1977), we concluded that an employee who quits after his employer had repeatedly delayed payment of wages acted with ordinary common sense in leaving his employment. We reasoned that insufficient cash flow was a management problem, the risk of which should not be borne by employees. Id. We believe that the instant case presents a comparable situation. Given the Board’s findings that Sciaretta had been forced in one instance to wait an inordinately long period to be paid and on other occasions was forced to appear at employer’s bank to cash her paychecks because of employer’s problems maintaining sufficient balances, we conclude that Sciaretta had necessitous and compelling reason to leave her job.

With regard to the other case before us, employer contends that Wood-son was not discharged, but voluntarily left his job. Whether a claimant was discharged is a question of law to be determined based upon the Board’s factual findings. Beverly Ents., Inc. v. Unemployment Compensation Bd. of Review, 702 A.2d 1148, 1151 (Pa.Cmwlth.1997). A finding of voluntary termination is essentially precluded unless the claimant has a conscious intention to leave his employment. Monaco v. Unemployment Compensation Bd. of Review, 523 Pa.

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Bluebook (online)
776 A.2d 1018, 2001 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 280, 2001 WL 460735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fekos-enterprises-v-unemployment-compensation-board-of-review-pacommwct-2001.