denying benefits under Section 402(b) as claimant established only resentment after supervisor yelled at her; that work environment was “uncomfortable” does not rise to the level of an intolerable work atmosphere
How later courts described this case
- denying benefits under Section 402(b) as claimant established only resentment after supervisor yelled at her; that work environment was “uncomfortable” does not rise to the level of an intolerable work atmosphere
- personality conflict with a co-worker and being chastised for crying and acting like a child by the boss made for an “uncomfortable,” but not “intolerable” work environment
- the claimant’s resentment of the employer’s policies and her personality conflicts with coworkers did not constitute a necessitous and compelling cause for an employee to voluntarily terminate employment
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
DISSENTING OPINION BY
Senior Judge FRIEDMAN.
I respectfully dissent. The majority opinion reverses the decision of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Board), which awarded benefits to Dorene W. Ditomasso (Claimant) after concluding that the verbal abuse she endured at work, which caused her to suffer from rashes, headaches and high blood pressure and prompted her physician to advise her to leave her employment, was a necessitous and compelling reason for resigning from her job in the dental office of Ann Kearney Astolfi DMD PC (Employer). I see no error in this conclusion.
Claimant worked as a receptionist and surgical assistant for Employer. The Board found that Employer yelled at Claimant when Claimant did not perform her job duties satisfactorily and that Employer told Claimant she was not worth the amount of money she was paid. (Board’s Findings of Fact, Nos. 5-6.) The Board also found that Employer’s verbal abuse caused Claimant to suffer from rashes, headaches and high blood pressure and that Claimant’s physician advised her to leave her employment for the sake of her health. (Board’s Findings of Fact, Nos. 8-9.) Claimant discussed the situation with Employer, but Employer told Claimant to deal with it herself. (Board’s Findings of Fact, No. 10.)
*1291 A person has a necessitous and compelling cause for voluntarily leaving her employment where circumstances produce pressure to terminate employment that is both real and substantial and that would compel a reasonable person to act in the same manner. Taylor v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 474 Pa. 351 , 378 A.2d 829 (1977). Personality conflicts, absent an intolerable work atmosphere, do not amount to a necessitous and compelling cause for leaving one’s employment. Lynn v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 58 Pa.Cmwlth. 178 , 427 A.2d 736 (1981).
Here, Employer’s verbal abuse produced pressure on Claimant that was both real and substantial. Indeed, the pressure caused Claimant to suffer from rashes, headaches and high blood pressure. Moreover, any reasonable person suffering such physical maladies as a result of circumstances at work would be compelled to terminate her employment. In fact, Claimant’s physician advised Claimant to do just that. To the extent Employer’s verbal assaults on Claimant were due to personality conflicts, given their effect on Claimant’s health, they were intolerable. A claimant should not be required to continue to endure a work environment that causes such afflictions as rashes, headaches and high blood pressure.
The majority states, “We cannot say on this record that Claimant’s work environment was intolerable or that a reasonable person would have acted in the same manner.” (Majority op. at 1289.) In other words, the majority concludes that: (1) Claimant should continue to tolerate the rashes, headaches and high blood pressure caused by Employer’s insults and yelling; and (2) Claimant’s physician is not a reasonable person for suggesting that Claimant quit her job for the sake of her health. I cannot agree with these conclusions.
The majority also suggests that, pursuant to case law, verbal abuse cannot be a necessitous and compelling reason to leave employment unless it is public, racial or sexual in nature. (Majority op. at 1289-1290.) However, abusive conduct of any kind is always a necessitous and compelling reason for leaving employment. First Federal Savings Bank v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 957 A.2d 811 (Pa.Cmwlth.2008) (stating that a claimant need not indefinitely subject herself to abusive conduct). Moreover, whether an employer’s conduct is abusive is a question of fact, and the majority acknowledges that the “Board credited Claimant’s testimony that she was ‘verbally abused’ by [Employer].” (Majority op. at 1288.)
Accordingly, I would affirm.