Batts v. Review Bd. of Indiana Employment Sec. Division

• Decision Date: 19 February 1979
• Docket Number: No. 2-776A262,2-776A262
• Citation: 179 Ind.App. 405,385 N.E.2d 1174
• Parties: Calvin BATTS, Appellant (Petitioner Below), v. REVIEW BOARD OF the INDIANA EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DIVISION, William H. Skinner, Ralph F. Miles & J. Frank Hanley, II and R & S Plating Company, Appellees(Respondents Below).
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

Page 1174

385 N.E.2d 1174

179 Ind.App. 405

Calvin BATTS, Appellant (Petitioner Below), v. REVIEW BOARD OF the INDIANA EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DIVISION, William H. Skinner, Ralph F. Miles & J. Frank

Hanley, II and R & S Plating Company,

Appellees(Respondents Below).

No. 2-776A262.

Court of Appeals of Indiana, Second District.

Feb. 19, 1979.

Dennis W. Lopes and David F. Shadel, Indianapolis, for appellant.

Theodore L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., Alembert W. Brayton, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellees.

SHIELDS, Judge.

Calvin D. Batts, Appellant-petitioner, appeals from the negative decision of the Employment Security Review Board alleging the decision is contrary to law. We affirm.

The relevant facts are not in dispute. Batts worked as a plater for R & S Plating Company from 1965 until August 4, 1975. When his request for three weeks' vacation was refused, he orally advised his employer that he "quit." He also so advised his foreman. Several minutes later, after his severance checks were prepared, Batts observed he was being paid for accrued vacation time of two weeks and three days. Batts then told his employer that he would not quit. However, his employer advised Batts that he was too late because he had already quit. Batts then told his fellow shop employees that he had quit, shook hands with his foreman, and left the plant.

The Board's findings and conclusions were:

The Review Board finds that the claimant resigned voluntarily from his employment on or about August 4, 1975, after he had become involved in a dispute with the employer concerning the amount of vacation time due him.

It further finds that claimant then attempted to rescind his resignation after he discovered that he was entitled to two weeks and three days of vacation, rather then (sic) a three weeks' vacation.

The Review Board has consistently held that once an employee voluntarily submits a resignation to his employer, he cannot, at a later time, unilaterally rescind said resignation; therefore, the Board must conclude that claimant left his work voluntarily and, further, that since claimant was in error concerning the amount of his vacation time, his voluntary leaving was without good cause in connection with work within the meaning of the Act.

Batts does not argue that his initial decision to resign was other than a "voluntary termination without good cause." Rather, he contends that when the employer refused to accept his retraction of his voluntary termination it became an "involuntary quit." Batts argues in favor of an employee's absolute right to retract a communicated decision to quit (1) within a reasonable time, (2) before the employer has suffered any harm or damage, and (3) provided the employee's employment is not otherwise in jeopardy. However, Batts fails to advance a compelling argument for adopting this position.

An at-will employment agreement, like any other contract, requires at least voluntariness and mutuality. When an offer to...