Thomas v. Review Board of Indiana Employment Security Division & Schlangen Guard & Security Service

274 N.E.2d 533, 149 Ind. App. 638, 1971 Ind. App. LEXIS 451
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 3, 1971
DocketNo. 671A106
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 274 N.E.2d 533 (Thomas v. Review Board of Indiana Employment Security Division & Schlangen Guard & Security Service) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thomas v. Review Board of Indiana Employment Security Division & Schlangen Guard & Security Service, 274 N.E.2d 533, 149 Ind. App. 638, 1971 Ind. App. LEXIS 451 (Ind. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

Lowdermilk, J.

This is an appeal from a decision of the Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division denying the claimant-appellant benefits under the Employment Security Act.

Appellant Ollie Thomas, (hereafter Claimant) filed his application for unemployment compensation benefits on November 12, 1970. This application stated his. last employment had ended in May of 1970. The claims deputy made an initial determination of ineligibility, finding Claimant had voluntarily left work without good cause. Claimant appealed this decision to a referee. A hearing was held on February 15, 1971, at which testimony was taken. The referee sustained the decision of the deputy.

Claimant then appealed to. the Review Board, which held a hearing on the transcript of the referee hearing. The Review Board affirmed the referee.

The issue before the Board to be determined was. whether the appellant, Ollie Thomas, voluntarily left work without good cause, not attributable to the employer. The deputy held that appellant did leave work voluntarily without good cause, not attributable to the employer, Schlangen Guard and Security Service.

The appellant appealed to a referee, and a hearing was held on February 15, 1971, at which the appellant testified. The only evidence before the referee was the appellant’s [640]*640testimony and four exhibits, composed of forms. No. 500, 506-B-, UC-511, and 601; the employer did not appear.

All the forms are those of the Employment Security Division and are regularly filed by an applicant requesting benefits.

On March 5, 1971, appellant was mailed a corrected decision by the referee, which concluded:

“The claimant appealed a deputy’s determination, dated December 16, 1970, that held the claimant left work voluntarily without good cause attributable to the employer. Claimant appeared in person. Employer did not appear. “The undisputed testimony was that the claimant had earned his maximum amount with Social Security and attempted to make arrangements with the employer, but could not do so. The claimant’s income was limited after the maximum amount of Social Security could be drawn.
“DECISION: The determination of the deputy is hereby sustained. The statutory penalty applies,”

From this referee’s decision the appellant filed an appeal to the Review Board, Indiana Employment Security Division. The Review. Board heard this appeal on March 30, 1971. Appellant and appellee appeared and oral argument was heard on the record. The record shows on its face no new or additional evidence was heard.

On April 12, 1971, the Board affirmed the decision of the referee and stated findings and conclusions, to-wit:

“FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
(A) “The Review Board finds that claimant filed an initial claim for benefits on November 12, 1970, indicating that he has last worked in May 1970, and his unemploy ment was due to retirement.
(B) “It further finds that claimant does not wish to earn more than $1680, the amount of his Social Security Benefits, during a calendar year.
(C) “It further finds that claimant advised his employer he would be back to work the first of 1971, but he failed to return.
[641]*641(D) “The Review Board concludes that claimant left his work voluntarily without good cause attributable to the employer within the meaning of the Act.
DECISION
(E) “The decision of the referee is hereby affirmed this 12th day of April, 1971.”

The appellant contends, and such contention is not denied, that no explanation has been made as to any circumstances warranting the referee in finding that the appellant had earned his maximum amount with Social Security.

With this we must agree, no evidence had been submitted which would have even raised an inference that this was a fact. None of the employer’s records were before the referee.

The appellant contends that we must follow the case of Jung v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Div. (1964), 136 Ind. App. 248, 199 N. E. 2d 476. In the Jung case the decision of the Review Board seemed to have been based on evidence, a part of which was a letter that was never received in evidence, which purported letter, in the court’s opinion, possessed some influence in the decision of the Board because, otherwise, there would be no logical reason or necessity for its presence as an ultimate fact found by the Board.

The case at bar is distinguished from the Jung case in that the appellant there argued his evidence was omitted from the record. No extraneous evidence was admitted, and the Jung case does not apply.

And, further, in the Jung case the Review Board was attacked as having committed error for having considered such a letter, if any, and the court stated the letter should be in evidence before found as a fact by appellee Review Board.

In the case at bar the referee’s findings and conclusions, a part of which have heretofore been set out in this opinion, [642]*642did find the evidence was undisputed that the claimant had earned his maximum amount with Social Security, which finding of the referee is, in our opinion, erroneous.

It is the decision of the Review Board that is here being considered and not the referee’s decision.

The Review Board is presumed to have considered and reviewed the prior evidence. They had a right to hear and consider additional evidence which according to the record was not offered by either of the parties who were in attendance.

There was evidence before the referee to support the Review Board’s conclusion that appellant “left his work voluntarily without good cause attributable to the employer.”

Appellant’s brief contends that Captain Willoughby, an employee of the appellee Schlangen Guard & Security Service, unjustly discharged the appellant. We are unable to find in the record any evidence where Captain Willoughby discharged the appellant.

The record does disclose that some person who was not named was present when appellant was talking1 with Mr. Schlangen’s daughter about his income and this unidentified person told the appellant “If you can’t work you are fired.”

There is no further evidence that appellant was fired, on the contrary, the evidence discloses that appellant went in and told Mr. Schlangen “I was coming back the first of the year, and after he fired me I didn’t go back.”

Appellant said he was able to return to work in November or could have gone to work in December and although he left his employment in May he never filed for his benefits until November.

The law is so well settled that this court does not weigh the evidence that it needs no citation of authority. We are confined to considering the decision of the Review Board.

[643]*643Now that we have determined that there was sufficient evidence in the record on which the Review Board made its finding, its finding cannot be turned over by this court. For us to hold otherwise, we would necessarily have to weigh the evidence.

Appellant’s brief de hors

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274 N.E.2d 533, 149 Ind. App. 638, 1971 Ind. App. LEXIS 451, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thomas-v-review-board-of-indiana-employment-security-division-schlangen-indctapp-1971.