Opinion

Gladieux Food Services, Inc. v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review

  • 479 Pa. 324
  • 388 A.2d 678
  • 1978 Pa. LEXIS 693
Court
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Filed
Jun 5, 1978
Status
Published
Author
Pomeroy
On the bench
Eagen, O'Brien, Roberts, Pomeroy, Nix, Manderino, Packel
Cited by
24 cases
Authority
More cited than 8.8%

in determining the reason for a claimant’s unemployment our Court must “confine our inquiry to the immediate cause and avoid the maze that would result from an attempt to ascertain indirect or chronologically remote causes”

How later courts described this case

  • in determining the reason for a claimant’s unemployment our Court must “confine our inquiry to the immediate cause and avoid the maze that would result from an attempt to ascertain indirect or chronologically remote causes”
  • provisions precluding receipt of benefits should be narrowly interpreted

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

POMEROY, Justice,

dissenting.

Among the facts established by the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review was that the cancellation of *332 orders by airline companies, and the consequent cessation of work at the employer’s place of business, was a direct result of the inability of the parties to reach some agreement which would maintain the status quo as of April 30, 1974 for a reasonable period. Indeed, the majority concedes that the nexus between these two facts is “relatively easily identifiable.” Opinion, ante at 330. As I see it, the inability to maintain the status quo was in turn the result of the employees’ refusal to continue to work for a time under the terms and conditions of the then existent contract. See Vrotney Unemployment Compensation Case, 400 Pa. 440 , 163 A.2d 91 (1960). While the actions which the employer unilaterally took subsequent to April 30 are regrettable and not to be condoned, they do not change the fact that the airlines ceased conducting business with Gladieux as the result of the labor dispute which existed on April 30. To ignore the fact that the work stoppage here involved was a direct result of the dispute is to ignore the clearly expressed legislative desire to deny unemployment benefits to persons who precipitate their own unemployment.

I agree with and would adopt the opinion of BLATT, J., in the Commonwealth Court and would deny unemployment benefits. Hence, this dissent.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.