Sherbert v. Verner

125 S.E.2d 737, 240 S.C. 286, 1962 S.C. LEXIS 102
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
DecidedMay 17, 1962
Docket17915
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 125 S.E.2d 737 (Sherbert v. Verner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sherbert v. Verner, 125 S.E.2d 737, 240 S.C. 286, 1962 S.C. LEXIS 102 (S.C. 1962).

Opinions

Moss, Justice.

Adell H. Sherbert, the appellant herein, did, on July 29, 1959, file her claim with the South Carolina Employment Security Commission, one of the respondents herein, for unemployment compensation benefit under the “South Carolina Unemployment Compensation Law.” Section 68-1 et seq., 1952 Code of Laws of South Carolina. ■

The appellant, a textile employee, had worked for Spartan Mills, Beaumont Division, a respondent herein, for approximately thirty-five years. Immediately prior to June 5, 1959, she was working as a spool tender Monday through Friday, on the first shift, and her hours were from 7:00 A. M. until 3 :00 P. M. On June 5, 1959, she was notified by her employer that, commencing June 6, 1959, she would be required to work on Saturday. This she refused to do, although the employer’s plant, and other textile plants in the area, were operating on a six day basis, which included Saturday. Prior to June 5, 1959, Saturday work in Spartan Mills was on a voluntary basis and the appellant had not worked at any time between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday after she became a member, on August 5, 1957, of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. The appellant failed to report for work on six successive Saturdays and she was discharged on July 27, 1959, because of her refusal to work on Saturdays. The reason given by the appellant for [289]*289refusing to work on Saturdays was that for nearly two years prior to her discharge she had been a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and it was the teaching of her Church that the Sabbath begins at sundown Friday and ends at sundown Saturday, during which time she should not perform work or labor of any kind. The appellant applied for work at three other textile plants in the Spartanburg area but had been unable to find employment since these plants and practically all of the other textile plants in the area operated six days a week, including Saturday. The first, second and third shifts of Spartan Mills included work on Saturday.

It appears that on September 4, 1959, a claims examiner of the Commission, pursuant to Sections 68-152 to 68-154 of the 1952 Code, issued a determination holding that the appellant had been separated from her employment because she was unavailable for work as of July 28, 1959, and imposed a disqualification of five weeks, thereby preventing her from receiving unemployment compensation benefits for said period. He further held that the appellant was not available for the regular work week observed by Spartan Mills and by the textile industry in the area in which she worked.

The claimant appealed from the initial determination of the claims examiner to the Appeal Tribunal of the Commission, and hearing was held by an Appeals Referee pursuant to Section 68-160 of the Code, at which the testimony of the appellant and her witness was taken. On October 12, 1959, the Appeal Tribunal affirmed the determination of the claims examiner and held that the appellant had been discharged under disqualifying circumstances because she was not available for work as of July 28, 1959.

Pursuant to Section 68-161 of the Code, and within the time allowed by law, the claimant appealed from the decision of the Appeal Tribunal to the Full Commission. This appeal was heard by said Commission on December [290]*29016, 1959 and, thereafter, on December 18, 1959, the Commission rendered its decision in which it made findings of fact and conclusions of law affirming the decision of the Appeal Tribunal.

The appellant commenced an action on January 5, 1960, in the Court of Common Pleas for Spartanburg County, for the purpose of obtaining a judicial review of the decision of the Commission. Section 68-165 of the Code. The case was heard by The Honorable J. Woodrow Lewis, Presiding Judge of the Seventh Circuit. Thereafter, by a decree dated June 27, 1960, Judge Lewis affirmed the decision of the Commission, holding that a disqualification had been properly imposed upon the appellant and that, because of the restrictions which she had placed upon her availability for1 employment, she was unavailable for work within the meaning of the South Carolina Unemployment Compensation Law. Timely notice of intention to appeal to this Court was given by the appellant.

The first question for determination is whether the appellant was able and available for work, under the facts here involved, within the contemplation of the South Carolina Unemployment Compensation Law, or was she discharged for misconduct connected with her work. The determination of this question involves consideration of the two sections of the Unemployment Compensation Law which prescribe the general rules of eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits. These are Sections 68-113, which provides for basic conditions which have to be met in order to qualify; and Section 68-114 enumerates a series of disqualifications.

Section 68-113 provides that:

“An unemployed insured worker shall be eligible to receive benefits with respect to any week only if the Commission finds that:

“(1) He has made a claim for benefits with respect to such week in accordance with such regulations as the Commission may prescribe;

[291]*291“(2) He has registered for work * * *

“(3) He is able to work and is available for work * * * >>

Section 68-114 provides :

“Any insured worker shall be ineligible for benefits:

“(1) ‘Leaving work voluntarily.’ If the Commission finds that he has left voluntarily without good cause his most recent work prior to filing a request for determination of insured status * * *

“(2) ‘Discharge for misconduct.’ If the Commission finds that he has been discharged for misconduct connected with his most recent work prior to filing a request for determination of insured status or a request for initiation of a claim series within an established benefit year * * . *.

“(3) ‘Failure to accept work.’ If the Commission finds that he has failed, without good cause, (a) either to apply for available suitable work, when so directed by the employment office or the Commission, (b) to accept available suitable work when offered him by the employment office or the employer * *

At the 1955 session of the General Assembly of South Carolina, Section 68-114 was amended by adding to subdivision (3) thereof a subsection (a) (49 Stats. 490), the following:

“In determining whether or not any work is suitable for an individual, the Commission shall consider the degree of risk involved to his health, safety and morals, * * *”

It is a fundamental principle of statutory construction that statutes must be construed in the light of the evil they seek to remedy and in the light of the conditions obtaining at the time of their enactment. Judson Mills v. South Carolina Unemployment Compensation Commission, et al., 204 S. C. 37, 28 S. E. (2d) 535.

The public policy and the purpose of the enactment of the Unemployment Compensation Law of this State is fully set [292]*292forth in Section 68-36 of the 1952 Code and is declared to be as follows:

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Sherbert v. Verner
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Sherbert v. Verner
125 S.E.2d 737 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1962)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
125 S.E.2d 737, 240 S.C. 286, 1962 S.C. LEXIS 102, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sherbert-v-verner-sc-1962.