92 Pa. Commw. 324 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1985
Opinion by
John J. Beattie (claimant) appeals from the decision of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Board), which denied him unemployment compensation benefits on the grounds that he voluntarily quit his job without necessitous and compelling cause pursuant to the provisions of Section 402(b) of the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Law (Law).
The claimant had been employed as a psychiatric assistant by Albert Einstein Medical Center (employer), his last day of work being May 14, 1982. Immedi
Where the party with the burden of proof in an unemployment compensation case does not prevail before the Board, our scope of review is limited to determining whether or not the findings of fact are consistent with each other and with conclusions of law and can be sustained without a capricious disregard of competent evidence. Fetterman v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 78 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 233, 467 A.2d 402 (1983). Whether or not a voluntary termination of employment was for cause of a necessitous and compelling nature is a legal conclusion, always subject to appellate review. Eduardo v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 61 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 424, 434 A.2d 215 (1981).
.. When a claimant voluntarily terminates employment, he has .the burden of proof of showing necessitous and compelling reasons for his action. Kernisky v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 10 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 199, 309 A.2d 181 (1973). In cases where a claimant terminates employment for medical reasons, the claimant may meet his burden by .showing that at the time of termination adequate
It is also clear from the record, and the findings of the Board, that the claimant communicated to his employer his medical difficulties. The claimant has, therefore, satisfied Ms initial burden under the test enunciated in Genetin, 499 Pa. 125, 451 A.2d 1353 (1982).
The claimant having met his burden, the burden of proof shifts to the employer, who must show that he offered suitable work to the claimant consistent with the claimant’s medical limitations if benefits are to be
Of course, the claimant may show that such an effort on his part would have been futile, and indeed tried to show such in this case by asserting that he was •told that there was a “hiring freeze ’’ which would .prevent his transfer. However, .the claimant was offered an additional leave of absence, during which time the “hiring freeze” might have ended. Additionally, the Personnel Department may have made an exception to the “freeze” in the claimant’s case because of the special circumstances. Therefore, we find that the claimant has not met his burden of showing futility, as a matter of law.
The employer testified concerning her instructions to the claimant to go through proper channels to effect a transfer. The Board accepted such testimony. The
Order
And Now, October 21,1985, the order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, No. B-216036, dated March 18,1983, is affirmed.
Act of December 5, 1988, Second Ex. Sess., P.L. (1937) 2897, as amended, 43 P.S. §802(b).