29 Pa. Commw. 95 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1977
Opinion by
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (employer) has appealed from the decision of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Board). The Board had reversed a referee’s decision which denied
The claimant was discharged for misappropriating Commonwealth funds, and this discharge was affirmed by the Civil Service Commission.
An employe shall be ineligible for compensation for any week—
(e) In which his unemployment is due to his discharge or temporary suspension from work for willful misconduct connected with his work. . . .
The Bureau of Employment Security (Bureau) denied benefits and, after a hearing, the referee affirmed that denial, finding that the claimant had been guilty of willful misconduct. The claimant appealed to the Board which, after reviewing the evidence, found that the “claimant did not misappropriate, Commonwealth funds or violate sales procedure,” reversed the referee, and granted benefits. This appeal followed.
It was the employer’s burden to prove that the discharged employee was guilty of willful misconduct, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review v. Bacon, 25 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 583, 361 A.2d 505
Because misappropriation of funds clearly would constitute willful misconduct, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review v. Houp, 20 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 111, 340 A.2d 588 (1975), the only issue presented here is whether or not there was substantial evidence to support the Board’s finding.
It is dear that “the Board has the express power to affirm, modify, or reverse, the determination of the referee on the basis of evidence previously submitted in [a] case . . . and that the Board is the ultimate fact-finding body empowered to resolve conflicts in evidence, to determine the credibility of witnesses, and to determine the weight to be accorded the evidence.” Unemployment Compensation Board of Review v. Wright, 21 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 637, 639, 347 A.2d 328, 329 (1975). (Citations omitted.)
The employer presented testimony and introduced into evidence the transcript of the hearing before the Civil Service Commission in support of its charge of willful misconduct. The claimant, by his own testimony, attempted to rebut the employer’s evidence, and he denied the charges. Simply stated, the situation here is that the Board did not believe that the employer’s testimony and evidence established that the claimant had misappropriated funds, and the employer, therefore, can be said to have failed to sustain its
We, therefore, affirm the order of the Board.
Order
And Now, this 18th day of February, 1977, the order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, dated December 2,1975, is affirmed.
The Civil Service Commission’s adjudication, insofar as it affirmed the dismissal, was not appealed, although an element of the adjudication was the subject of a later appeal to this Court in Liquor Control Board v. Clark, 22 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 495, 349 A.2d 809 (1976).
Evidence is substantial when a reasonable man, acting reasonably, could base a conclusion thereon. O'Keefe v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 18 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 151, 333 A.2d 815 (1975).