Mason v. Administration of the Office of Employment Security

486 So. 2d 1171, 1986 La. App. LEXIS 5843
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 9, 1986
DocketNo. 85-285
StatusPublished

This text of 486 So. 2d 1171 (Mason v. Administration of the Office of Employment Security) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mason v. Administration of the Office of Employment Security, 486 So. 2d 1171, 1986 La. App. LEXIS 5843 (La. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

KING, Judge.

The sole issue presented by this appeal is whether or not the District Court was correct in finding that the plaintiff was disqualified from continuing to receive unemployment compensation benefits because he had refused to accept a job referral without good cause.

This is a suit for judicial review of the denial of continued unemployment compensation benefits to Johnny R. Mason (hereinafter referred to as the plaintiff) by the Office of Employment Security of the Louisiana Department of Labor (hereinafter referred to as the Agency). The Agency initially ruled that the plaintiff was ineligible to continue to receive unemployment compensation benefits because he had failed to apply for available, suitable work. The Agency’s decision was affirmed by its Appeals Referee and reaffirmed by its Board of Review. The plaintiff then appealed to the Ninth Judicial District Court, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, where the Agency’s decision was again affirmed. The plaintiff now devolutively appeals. We affirm.

FACTS

The plaintiff, a truck driver, was discharged and last worked on April 15, 1983 for Montgomery Ward. The plaintiff filed [1173]*1173for unemployment compensation benefits and began receiving benefits of $193.00 per week. As a condition of receiving unemployment compensation benefits a claimant must seek and apply for available, suitable work. LSA-R.S. 23:1601(3).

The plaintiff received a call-in card from the local Employment Security Office concerning a potential job and was instructed to report to Mr. Thomason at that office no later than 4:00 P.M. on July 12, 1983. The plaintiff reported to Mr. Thomason, and was advised of a referral for an interview for a job as a truck driver. The plaintiff did not know if he wanted to accept the job referral that was offered to him at that time by Mr. Thomason.

The plaintiff was instructed to return to Mr. Thomason with a resume of his education and experience, if he chose to accept the job referral, or to mail back the job referral card stating why he did not want to accept the job referral. The plaintiff mailed back the job referral card stating that he did not want to accept the job referral because the prospective job would require him to be away from home and would not pay enough. The plaintiff was interviewed by Mr. Thomason on July 22, 1983 and gave as his reasons for not accepting the job referral that he thought the job would only pay twenty percent of the value of the load, would only gross him about $250.00 per week less deductions for expenses, would require daily trips to Houston, and would require that he unload and work on his own truck. The plaintiff did not make further inquiry about the prospective job or what it entailed until after he was disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation benefits, when he called the Arcadia Trucking Company to inquire about the job.

The Agency ruled that the plaintiff refused to accept a job referral and failed to apply for available, suitable work without good cause and disqualified him from receiving any further unemployment compensation benefits. The Appeals Referee, after a hearing, affirmed the Agency’s initial determination of disqualification, and the Board of Review reaffirmed that disqualification. The plaintiff then sought judicial review by the District Court pursuant to LSA-R.S. 23:1634. The district court likewise affirmed the disqualification and the plaintiff now appeals to this Court.

DISQUALIFICATION FROM BENEFITS

The courts are limited in their power to review decisions made by the Board of Review. The findings of the Board of Review, as to the facts, if supported by sufficient evidence and in the absence of fraud, shall be conclusive, and the jurisdiction of the courts shall be confined to questions of law. LSA-R.S. 23:1634; Hayes v. State, Office of Employment Sec., 467 So.2d 175 (La.App.3rd Cir.1985). An unemployment compensation claimant shall be disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation benefits “if he has failed, without good cause, either to apply for available, suitable work when so directed by the administrator or to accept suitable work when offered to him.” LSA-R.S. 23:1601(3).

Careful review of the record reveals that the findings of fact of the Appeals Referee and the Board of Review were sufficiently supported by the evidence presented at the hearing before the Appeals Referee. (The Board of Review did not set forth independent findings of fact, but rather adopted those of the Appeals Referee.)

The undisputed evidence reveals that the plaintiff received a call-in card directing him to report, by no later than 4:00 p.m. on July 12, 1983, to Mr. Thomason at the job placement office to discuss a job opening. The plaintiff reported to Mr. Thomason as directed. The record is unclear regarding to what extent Mr. Thomason and the plaintiff discussed the job opening with Arcadia Trucking Company and the requirements of the job. However, it is apparent that the plaintiff was not informed by Mr. Thomason at that time that Arcadia was then interviewing at a local Holiday Inn for truck drivers. Mr. Thomason, as admitted by the plaintiff at the hearing before the Appeals Referee, instructed the plaintiff to [1174]*1174take the job referral card home with him, and that if he (the plaintiff) decided to accept the job referral, to bring the job referral card back to Mr. Thomason along with a resume. Mr. Thomason also instructed the plaintiff that if he chose not to accept the referral, to mail the job referral card back with written reasons for his refusal. The plaintiff mailed the job referral card back saying he would not accept the referral and was subsequently disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation benefits.

The plaintiff on appeal attempts to link importance to the fact that he was never told to report to the Holiday Inn for the interview with the prospective employer. However, that is of no importance in light of the fact that the plaintiff was directed to report back to Mr. Thomason, not to the prospective employer, if he chose to accept the job referral. A necessary step in applying for the job was to report back to Mr. Thomason. The plaintiff did not take this step.

• The issue presented by the Agency’s disqualification is whether or not the plaintiff had good cause for not accepting the job referral. At an interview on July 22, 1983, after the plaintiff had refused the job referral, Mr. Thomason reported on the Work Sheet For Fact Finding Interview that no job facts had been discussed with the plaintiff at the initial interview on July 15, 1983. The plaintiff, however, testified that Mr. Thomason told him at that time that the job paid twenty percent of the load, that he would have to unload his own truck and that he would have to work on his own truck. The plaintiff also testified that he was familiar with Arcadia Trucking Company because he had several friends who had applied for work with the company. The plaintiff, for the first time, called Arcadia’s office in Tennessee to find out more about the job after he learned that he had been disqualified to receive further unemployment compensation benefits.

The plaintiff, at his interview on July 22, 1983, stated that:

“I refused a job offer with Arcadia Trucking. I refused the job because the pay was 20% of the load. I knew it was a daily trip to Houston. I would gross about $250.00 per week but would have to deduct for expenses.

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Related

Melton v. State, Office of Employment SEC.
473 So. 2d 925 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)
Vancouver Plywood Co., Inc. v. Sumrall
415 So. 2d 625 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1982)
Hayes v. State, Office of Employment SEC.
467 So. 2d 175 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)

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Bluebook (online)
486 So. 2d 1171, 1986 La. App. LEXIS 5843, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mason-v-administration-of-the-office-of-employment-security-lactapp-1986.