Steinberg v. Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board

ASHBY, J.

I respectfully dissent.

The basic question presented by this appeal is whether there is substantial evidence to support the finding that appellant is disqualified under Unemployment Insurance Code section 1256 in that she “voluntarily without good cause” left her most recent employment.” The evidence and its inferences viewed most favorably to respondent support the decision of the lower court and the appeals board.

*588 Appellant was employed by American Direct Mailing Advertising for approximately four months. She was hired as a typist but took shorthand, typed letters, filing work, statements, typed envelopes, addressed labels, and anything else that was given to do. Soon after she took the job, she found it difficult to get along with her fellow employees. Most if not all of whom were related. Quickly appellant reached a point where she would not speak to anyone but the boss’s sister, Mrs. Wolf and Mr. Spero, the 1

On what turned out to be her last day of employment, appellant was approached by an elderly 68- or 69-year-old coworker who, according to appellant, “started mumbling something to me, and I ignored her and continued my work.” Mrs. Wolf told appellant that she had to answer her fellow worker. When appellant refused, Mrs. Wolf reported the incident to her brother, Mr. Spero. Mr. Spero inquired into appellant’s reason for refusing to answer her coworker. Appellant testified as follows concerning her conversation with Mr. Spero:

“A. He said, ‘You got to talk to her or else you can’t work here anymore.’

“I can’t remember the exact words, but that was the meaning, and I said, ‘I can not and will not talk to anyone that makes me ill. My health is more important.’ ”

Although appellant insists she did not quit her job, she submitted into evidence a statement of handwritten notes which read as follows: “Also followed doctor’s advice, given to me last year, to remove myself from any source of irritation and not to get involed [jzc] in anything that affects my health. . . . [1Í] Mrs. Wolfe is sister of Mr. Spero—her statement that I quit my job is not correct. Mr. Spero is the person to speak to because he is the one that terminated my employment. I didn’t quit—I had to leave that job because it affected my health. ” (Italics added.)

*589 It is clear that the record supports the finding that appellant was not discharged. She left voluntarily rather than speak to her coworkers. However, we must still consider whether the record supports a finding that her termination, though voluntary, was without good cause. It is clear that it does. Appellant presented no evidence to identify an illness caused by her employment. She was not treated by a doctor for her claimed illness. She conceded that she had not been advised by a doctor to terminate her employment. Under the rules of the appeals board, good cause will not be found if the employee has not been receiving medical attention relative to the medical problems complained of and/or where the termination was not necessitated on the advice of a physician. (Precedent Benefit Dec. Nos. 117 (1971), 5846 (1952), and 5343 (1949).) In regard to the nature of the illness she attributed to the presence of the employee involved in the final incident, appellant testified as follows:

“Q. Now, you mentioned that talking to this woman would make you ill? [ 2 ]

“A. Yes.

“Q. What was the nature of the illness?

“A. I don’t know. That woman rubbed me the wrong way. She just upset me.

“Have you ever come across a certain person that just get bad vibrations that upset you for no reason? I don’t know what there was about her.

“She was a woman about 68, 69, and she kept harping, T am here ten years.’ ”

The decision by the appeals board is certainly supported by the record in this case. Appellant could have spoken and communicated with her fellow workers and remained employed. She chose to leave because she believed that talking or associating with her fellow workers would be detrimental to her health. If she could have shown that it would be *590 detrimental to her health, it would have been good cause for voluntarily leaving employment. However, she did not show that it would have been detrimental to her health and therefore did not show good cause.

I would affirm the decision.

"However, there was a family unit of man and wife and the woman was pregnant and they thought she was the boss. She sat next to me and she annoyed me and was hostile and upset me very much.

“As a matter of fact you can check with the boss—had to take a week off in December because they made me so sick and aggravated me. So I made up my mind then and there I will not become involved in can not afford to be

“Anyway, so I told Mrs. Wolf who gave me my work assignment, the boss’s sister, and I says I will not bother with anyone. You give me my assignment. I work for you, and this is it.”

Actually, although appellant testified that talking to the employee made her ill, appellant apparently never did talk to her. She testified that she did not know what the woman had said to her to precipitate the incident. “A. I have no idea because I just ignored [j/c] completely. I have ignored her for four months. All of a sudden she comes over, starts mumbling, and I just kept ignoring her.”