Fennell v. Board of Review, No. A-1700-95T3

• Court: New Jersey Superior Court – Appellate Division
• Citation: 688 A.2d 113,297 N.J.Super. 319
• Docket Number: No. A-1700-95T3
• Parties: Ricky B. FENNELL, Appellant, v. BOARD OF REVIEW and Mercer Medical Center, Respondents.
• Decision Date: 07 February 1997

Page 319

297 N.J.Super. 319 688 A.2d 113 Ricky B. FENNELL, Appellant,
v.
BOARD OF REVIEW and Mercer Medical Center, Respondents. No. A-1700-95T3.
Superior Court of New Jersey,
Appellate Division. Submitted Dec. 11, 1996.
Decided Feb. 7, 1997.

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Legal Aid Society of Mercer County, for appellant (Patrick N. Budd, Trenton, attorney; Adena Adler, of counsel and on the brief).

Peter Verniero, Attorney General of New Jersey, attorney for respondent Board of Review (Susan C. Berger, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).

No brief filed on behalf of respondent Mercer Medical Center.

Before Judges KING and KEEFE.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

KING, P.J.A.D.

This is an appeal from a final decision of the Board of Review which denied appellant unemployment compensation benefits. Appellant had been confined to jail for nine months, unable to raise bail, and lost his job. The criminal charges were eventually dropped. We agree with the Board of Review and affirm.

Appellant was employed in the housekeeping department of the Mercer Medical Center until September 21, 1994 when he was arrested for aggravated assault and lesser-included charges. He

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remained in the Mercer County Jail until June 19, 1995 because he was unable to post bail. Defendant [688 A.2d 114] made all reasonable efforts to get his employer to hold his job open until his release. On January 15, 1995 Mercer Medical Center told him that he was terminated but that he could apply for a position when he was released. On June 22, 1995, three days after his release, he applied for his old job but was not rehired. On June 25, 1995 he filed this claim for unemployment compensation benefits. The Appeal Tribunal upheld the denial of benefits because appellant's reason for leaving his job was incarceration, a personal problem not attributable to work. The Board of Review agreed and affirmed.

Our Unemployment Compensation Act, N.J.S.A. 43:21-1 to -56, was enacted in 1936 to afford protection against the hazards of economic insecurity due to involuntary unemployment. Yardville Supply Co. v. Bd. of Review, 114 N.J. 371, 374, 554 A.2d 1337 (1989). In order to further its remedial and beneficial purposes, the law is liberally construed in favor of allowing benefits but preservation of the fund against claims by those not intended to share in its benefits is also important. Yardville, 114 N.J. at 374, 554 A.2d 1337. "The basic policy of the law is advanced as well when benefits are denied in improper cases as when they are allowed in proper cases." Yardville, 114 N.J. at 374, 554 A.2d 1337; Krauss v. A. & M. Karagheusian, 13 N.J. 447, 455-56, 100 A.2d 277 (1953).

A claimant is disqualified for unemployment benefits under N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(a):

For the week in which the individual has left work voluntarily without good cause attributable to such work, and for each week thereafter until the individual becomes reemployed and works four weeks in employment....

The clause "voluntarily without good cause attributable to such work" was added to the statute in 1961 to eliminate the eligibility of persons who leave work for good but personal reasons. Self v. Bd. of Review, 91 N.J. 453, 457, 453 A.2d 170 (1982). Personal reasons held by our courts as insufficient good cause attributable to work include: domestic violence causing change of residence,

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Pagan v. Bd. of Review, 296 N.J.Super. 539, 687 A.2d 328 (App.Div.1997); frustration at not receiving an expected pay raise, DeSantis v. Bd. of Review, 149 N.J.Super. 35, 38, 372 A.2d 1362 (App.Div.1977); absence from work precipitated by relocation due to an intolerable home living situation, Roche v. Bd. of Review, 156 N.J.Super. 63, 65, 383 A.2d 453 (App.Div.1978); and absence from work due to transportation, commuting difficulties or financial problems. Self, 91 N.J. at 460, 453 A.2d 170; White v. Bd. of Review, 146 N.J.Super. 268, 270, 369 A.2d 937 (App.Div.1977); Morgan v. Bd. of Review, 77 N.J.Super. 209, 213-14, 185 A.2d 870 (App.Div.1962).

The purpose of the New Jersey statute "is to differentiate between (1) a voluntary quit with good cause attributable to work and (2) a voluntary quit without good cause attributable to work." DeLorenzo v. Bd. of Review, 54 N.J. 361, 363, 255 A.2d 248 (1969). A departure not attributable to work is a "voluntary departure without good cause related to work" which will disqualify the employee from receiving unemployment benefits. Self, 91 N.J. at 457, 453 A.2d 170; DeLorenzo, 54 N.J. at 363, 255 A.2d 248. Causes personal to the claimant and not attributable to the work come within the disqualification language of the statute. White v. Bd. of Review, 146 N.J.Super. at 270, 369 A.2d 937; Stauhs v. Bd. of Review, 93 N.J.Super. 451, 226 A.2d 182 (App.Div.1967). The only recognized exception to the rule...