Opinion

Robinson v. UN. COMP. BD. OF REV.

  • 110 Pa. Commw. 474
  • 532 A.2d 952
  • 1987 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 2578
Court
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
Filed
Oct 28, 1987
Status
Published
Author
Blatt
On the bench
Craig, Doyle, Blatt
Cited by
4 cases
Authority
More cited than 10.5%

The opinion

Dissenting Opinion by

Judge Blatt:

I respectfully dissent.

The majority concludes that the petitioner was properly denied benefits because she failed to show that she had no real choice except to leave her employment and *480 because she made no reasonable effort to maintain the employment relationship.

Preliminarily, I would note that a claimant is under no duty to request a leave of absence, where, such a request may be futile. See Evasovich v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 80 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 395 , 471 A.2d 921 (1984); see also Genetin v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 499 Pa. 125 , 451 A.2d 1353 (1982). Furthermore, the record here indicates that the petitioner testified that her fathers illness was serious, that she planned to stay with him permanently at his home in North Carolina, where she also had a step-brother residing, and that she did not request a leave of absence although she had been previously granted one. The record, however, is silent as to whether or not the petitioner could have moved her father to Philadelphia, so as to enable her to maintain her employment. And, although the referee made no findings on any of these questions, he concluded that, inasmuch as she had failed to request a leave of absence, she voluntarily terminated her employment without cause of a necessitous and compelling nature.

I believe, therefore, that the referee failed to make the findings necessary to enable him to determine whether or not a request for a leave of absence would have been futile.

Accordingly, I would remand this matter to the Board for those necessary findings.

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.

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