Neff v. Industrial Commission

128 N.W.2d 465, 24 Wis. 2d 207, 1964 Wisc. LEXIS 475
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJune 2, 1964
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 128 N.W.2d 465 (Neff v. Industrial Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Neff v. Industrial Commission, 128 N.W.2d 465, 24 Wis. 2d 207, 1964 Wisc. LEXIS 475 (Wis. 1964).

Opinions

Beilfuss, J.

Broadly stated the issue is:

Is there credible evidence in the record to sustain the finding of the Industrial Commission ?

[211]*211Pertinent statutes and commission rules made pursuant to the statute are as follows:

“108.01 Public policy declaRation. Without intending that this section shall supersede, alter or modify the specific provisions hereinafter contained in this chapter, the public policy of this state is declared as follows:
“(2) The economic burdens resulting from unemployment should not only be shared more fairly, but should also be decreased and prevented as far as possible. A sound system of unemployment reserves, contributions and benefits should induce and reward steady operations by each employer, since he is in a better position than any other agency to share in and to reduce the social costs of his own irregular employment. Employers and employes throughout the state should co-operate, in advisory committees under government supervision, to promote and encourage the steadiest possible employment. A more adequate system of free public employment offices should be provided, at the expense of employers, to place workers more efficiently and to shorten the périods between jobs. Education and retraining of workers during their unemployment should be encouraged. Governmental construction providing emergency relief through work and wages should be stimulated.
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“108.02 (18) Eligibility. An employe shall be deemed ‘eligible’ for benefits for any given week of his unemployment unless he is disqualified by a specific provision of this chapter from receiving benefits for such week of unemployment, and shall be deemed ‘ineligible’ for any week to which such a disqualification applies.”
“108.04 (2) Registration for work, (a) An employe shall be deemed eligible, for waiting period or benefit purposes, as to any given week for which he receives no wages, only if he has within such week registered for work in such manner as may then be prescribed by commission rules; provided that, [212]*212if the commission finds that there are conditions under which an employe cannot reasonably be required to comply with the foregoing registration requirement, the commission may by general rule waive this requirement under such stated conditions. Each employer shall inform his employes of the foregoing registration requirement, in such reasonable manner as the commission may from time to time prescribe.”
“Ch. Ind-UC 126 Registration for work, and notice of unemployment. Sec. Ind-UC 126.01, 3 Wis. Adm. Code, Manner of registering for work, and the effect of such registration. (1) Pursuant to section 108.04 (2) (a), Wis. Stats., an employe shall be eligible, for waiting period or benefit purposes, as to any week or other designated period of his total unemployment, only if he has within such week or other designated period registered for work through a public employment office.
“(2) An employe thus registering for work shall be presumed willing and able to accept any suitable employment that might be offered him, except that a representative of the commission may test this presumption through questioning of the employe at the time he files his claim for benefits and through other procedures. A claimant will not be deemed as having registered for work if it is determined by any of these procedures that his physical condition or his personal circumstances remove or practically remove him from the labor market or that without good cause he is substantially restricting his opportunities to secure suitable employment.”
“108.09 (7) (a) Either party may commence judicial action for the review of a decision of the commission hereunder, provided said party (after exhausting the remedies provided hereunder) has commenced such judicial action within 30 days after a decision of the commission was mailed to his last known address.
“(b) Any judicial review hereunder shall be confined to questions of law, and the other provisions of ch. 102 of the 1959 statutes with respect to judicial review of orders and awards shall likewise apply to any decision of the commission reviewed under this section. Any such judicial action may be defended, in behalf of the commission, by any qualified attorney who is a regular salaried employe of the commission [213]*213and has been designated by it for this purpose, or at the commission’s request by the attorney general.”
“108.04 (13) Notification as to ineligibility, (a) The commission may take administrative notice of any fact indicating an employe’s ineligibility, whether or not the employing unit has reported such fact or asserted the employe’s ineligibility under this chapter.”

The parties agree that the law of this state is that in reviewing the findings of fact of the Industrial Commission under ch. 108, Stats, (unemployment compensation), the reviewing court is bound by such findings if there is any credible evidence which would support such findings.1 Likewise if conflicting inferences exist it is for the commission to draw the controlling inference.2 Further, the credibility of the witnesses and the weight of the evidence lie exclusively within the province of the commission.3

The claimant contends that the findings of the commission should be set aside because the evidence is insufficient to overcome the statutory presumption that claimant (employee) is deemed to be eligible, and upon the further ground that there is no credible evidence to support the finding of ineligibility.

Sec. 108.04 (2), Stats., as set forth above, and sec. 108.02 (18) provide in substance that an employee shall be “deemed eligible” for any week in which he received no wages (except waiting period) if he has registered for work in the manner prescribed by the commission.

The commission rules quoted above provide in substance that if the employee registers for work at a designated em[214]*214ployment office he shall be presumed willing and able to accept suitable work offered to him, but the commission may test the presumption by an investigation.

We hold the commission rule to be reasonable and valid. The statute and the rule create a presumption for the benefit of the employee. For the practical application of the statute and for the convenience of the employee, he is not required to prove his eligibility each week. When an investigation reveals facts inconsistent with eligibility the presumption disappears and he is not deemed to have made a valid registration. He, of course, may demand a hearing and a review for a factual determination. Such a hearing and review were held wherein it was determined that he was not eligible.

The circuit court upon judicial review was of the opinion that there was no evidence of sufficient probative value to refute the claimant’s assertion that if a job was offered to him he would quit school to take the job, if quitting school was necessary, and that there was no evidence to sustain the conclusion that his personal circumstances removed or practically removed him from the labor market.

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Bluebook (online)
128 N.W.2d 465, 24 Wis. 2d 207, 1964 Wisc. LEXIS 475, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/neff-v-industrial-commission-wis-1964.