Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. Callahan

658 A.2d 1112, 105 Md. App. 25, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 99
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedMay 31, 1995
DocketNo. 845
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 658 A.2d 1112 (Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. Callahan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. Callahan, 658 A.2d 1112, 105 Md. App. 25, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 99 (Md. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

HOLLANDER, Judge.

The common issue presented here concerns the determination of when appellees, who are 33 former Westinghouse Electric Corporation employees, became unemployed for purposes of entitlement to unemployment compensation benefits.1 The Hearing Examiner of the Department of Economic and Employment Development (“DEED”) concluded that all 33 [28]*28appellees were qualified to collect unemployment insurance benefits as of the time that they were prospectively notified by Westinghouse, the appellant here, that their jobs would be abolished. Thereafter, pursuant to Md.Code Ann., Labor and Employment Art. (“L.E.”) § 8-806(h)(4)(i), DEED’S Board of Appeals (the “Board”) denied review of the Hearing Examiner’s decisions.2 Westinghouse then appealed the agency’s decisions3 to the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, which affirmed. From that consolidated decision, Westinghouse has appealed to this Court.

Westinghouse essentially contends that appellees were employed for the two month period following notice that their jobs were going to be eliminated. Westinghouse presents the following questions for our review:

I. Whether the claimants were unemployed as a matter of law.
II. Whether the record contained substantial evidence in support of the Agency findings.
III. Whether claimants [sic] receipt of retirement and severance pay disqualified them from receiving benefits under the act.-

For the reasons discussed below, we answer the first two questions in the affirmative, the severance pay issue in the negative, and decline to address the retirement issue. Accordingly, we shall affirm.

[29]*29Factual Background

On October 30, 1992, appellant initiated a reduction-in-force and distributed “Permanent Separation Notices” to many of its professional, management, and non-represented salaried employees.4 The notices stated:

[A] permanent reduction in Electronic Systems Group Employment is necessary----
It is my unhappy duty to notify you today, you will be laid off and that your last day on the rolls will be December 30, 1992. Any vacation to which you are entitled must be taken prior to December 30, 1992 and you are required to keep me, your supervisor abreast of your whereabouts between now and your day of separation. During the period between October 30 and December 30, 1992, normal pay practices will apply, and you -will remain on the active employee rolls. Your layoff will be permanent in nature ....

Included with the notice was a statement entitled “Pay Policy For Laid Off Employees,” directing all affected employees to report for work throughout their notice period. The employees were informed that normal pay practices would apply and, consistent with the notice, all 33 appellees received full pay and benefits between October 30, 1992 and December 30, 1992. The statement also advised that employees were required to use their vacation time before December 30, 1992 and that “employees notified of layoff will be permitted to use the resource center as required, providing they have received the prior approval of their individual supervisor.” The resource center provided individual counseling, resume writing assistance, seminars, training opportunities, and employment listings. It also furnished a variety of office equipment to help the employees in their search for new employment. Although [30]*30the use of the center was not mandatory, attendance was suggested.

Evidentiary hearings were conducted by the Hearing Examiner during January and February, 1993. During the administrative hearings, the focus was establishment of the claimants’ date of separation. Appellant argued that claimants were employed until December 30, 1992, as payments made to the claimants during the notice period constituted wages. Accordingly, Westinghouse claimed below, as it does here, that appellees were barred from receiving unemployment benefits during that period. The Hearing Examiner aptly stated: “The real dispute ... is that the employer’s basic contention is that your last day of work was December 30th because you were- paid up to that time---- No dispute that you are eligible, it is just when it should start.”

At the hearing, Mary Bundick, a paralegal for Westinghouse, testified that employees received salary benefits and accrued seniority that affected employees’ severance pay. Moreover, during the period between notice and actual lay-off, the employees were instructed to report to work or, alternatively, to the resource center, and they were required to keep their supervisors abreast of their whereabouts.

Various appellees also testified. In sum, they said that although they received pay checks, Westinghouse did not expect them to perform their regular job duties during the notification period and, in many instances, they were unable to do so. In early December, the claimants were required to surrender their employee badges that authorized access to Westinghouse premises. Instead, they were given resource center badges.

Patrick Callahan, one of the appellees, testified: “[M]y boss told me that my full-time job is to find a job.” Other 'appellees testified that, after October 30, 1992, they spent most of their time at the resource center. Still others stated [31]*31that they were not even required to report to work or the resource center.5 Appellee Charles Althoff stated:

[M]y computer access was taken away and my boss said he didn’t really want me there---- So I never went back to work. I have been to the resource center. Sometimes you sign in the resource center, sometimes they tell you not to.... I still got the pay, but as of October 30th, I was no longer a Westinghouse employee. As a matter of fact, that Friday your ID was taken off the computer, so you couldn’t go into work anyhow....

Ultimately, the Hearing Examiner determined that appellees were, in fact, unemployed as of October 30, 1992 and that the payments made to claimants were dismissal payments, not wages, within the meaning of L.E. § 8-101(v)(l).6 He also determined that the claimants’ job searches and their use of the resource center could not be considered work performed for Westinghouse for which wages were payable. Rather, he stated:

The main purpose or function of the Resource Center was to help the claimant find a job and the claimant did use it for that purpose. If anything, the Resource Center was a service provided to the claimant by the employer rather than a service performed by the claimant for the employer especially where the use of the facility was not mandatory and the claimant could no longer perform normal job duties.

The Hearing Examiner concluded that because appellees’ jobs were abolished, Westinghouse’s payments would not disqualify them under L.E. § 8-1009. L.E. § 8-1009 states:

(a) Scope of section—This section does not apply to unemployment that results from abolishment of the individual’s job.
[32]*32(b) Effect of

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Bluebook (online)
658 A.2d 1112, 105 Md. App. 25, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 99, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westinghouse-electric-corp-v-callahan-mdctspecapp-1995.