Andersen v. Industrial Com'n, 23513

• Decision Date: 18 November 1968
• Docket Number: No. 23513,23513
• Citation: 447 P.2d 221,167 Colo. 281
• Parties: William E. ANDERSEN, Plaintiff in Error, v. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION of the State of Colorado (Ex Officio Unemployment Compensation Commission of Colorado); and Metropolitan Pontiac; Leo Payne Pontiac, Inc.; and Pinkerton's Incorporated (Interested Employers), Defendants in Error.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 221

447 P.2d 221

167 Colo. 281

William E. ANDERSEN, Plaintiff in Error, v. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION of the State of Colorado (Ex Officio Unemployment Compensation Commission of Colorado); and Metropolitan Pontiac; Leo Payne Pontiac, Inc.; and Pinkerton's Incorporated (Interested Employers), Defendants in Error.

No. 23513.

Supreme Court of Colorado, In Department.

Nov. 18, 1968.

David W. Sarvas, L. L. Nathenson, Lakewood, for plaintiff in error.

L. James Arthur, Kelly O'Neall, Jr., Denver, for defendant in error, Pinkerton's, Inc.

Duke W. Dunbar, Atty. Gen., Frank E. Hickey, Deputy Atty. Gen., Robert L. Harris, Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendant in error, Industrial Commission of the State of Colorado.

PRINGLE, Justice.

This writ of error is directed to a judgment of the district court affirming the denial of unemployment compensation benefits to the plaintiff in error, William E. Andersen. The defendants in error are the Industrial Commission (referred to as the Commission) and the interested employers, Metropolitan Pontiac, Leo Payne Pontiac, Inc. (Leo Payne), and Pinkerton's Incorporated (Pinkerton's). Of the interested employers, only Pinkerton's appeared at the hearing before the Commission to contest Andersen's claim for benefits.

Andersen's separation from his employment with Pinkerton's is the focal point of this dispute, but some additional information is necessary to put this case in its proper perspective. After working as an automobile salesman for some thirty years, Andersen left Metropolitan Pontiac to take another job at Leo Payne because the latter was closer to his home. The Commission found that on May 15, 1966, his employment there was terminated, after about three months, through no fault of his own. He remained unemployed until March 31, 1967, when he accepted a job from Pinkerton's as a night security guard. After first asking Pinkerton's for a job which required less walking, and having been refused, Andersen resigned his employment on April 3, 1967, because he couldn't stand the walking required to perform his job. Andersen was sixty-four years old, was very heavy, and the walking caused his feet and ankles to swell. In subsequent proceedings, the Commission denied Andersen's claim for unemployment compensation benefits on the ground that he had left his employment at Pinkerton's for personal reasons. See 1965 Perm.Supp., C.R.S.1963, 82--4--8(6)(b)(xxii). The trial court affirmed.

Andersen's sole argument here is that the trial court erred in affirming the decision of the Commission because the evidence in the record requires the conclusion that he quit his job at Pinkerton's not for personal reasons, as found by the Commission, but for health reasons. We agree and reverse the judgment of the trial court.

The legislature has expressly declared that the Commission shall be guided in the granting of benefit awards by the tenet that unemployment insurance is for the benefit of persons unemployment through no fault of their own, and that each eligible individual who is unemployed through no fault of his own shall be entitled to receive benefits. 1965 Perm.Supp., C.R.S.1963, 82--4--8(1). Furthermore, we have stated that unemployment compensation acts are to be liberally construed to further their remedial and beneficient purposes. Industrial Commission v. Sirokman, 134 Colo. 481, 306 P.2d 669. With these principles in mind, we review this case.

In addition to the facts already recited, the record discloses that Andersen had never received unemployment benefits. After remaining unemployed from May 15, 1966, until March 31, 1967, he applied to Pinkerton's and was given a night shift as a security guard, which required his walking to check twenty-five time clocks every hour. His overweight condition was considered by his employer, and he was questioned as to his ability to perform the duties of his job. Having been advised of the strenuous routine required, Andersen replied that he wanted to try it anyway. After working three days, he notified his employer that he couldn't stand the walking and requested a leave of absence and an easier...