Hill v. Board of Review
| Citation | 276 S.E.2d 805,166 W.Va. 648 |
| Decision Date | 03 April 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 14944,14944 |
| Court | Supreme Court of West Virginia |
| Parties | Ralph W. HILL et al. v. BOARD OF REVIEW, etc., et al. and Eastern Associate Coal Corp. |
Syllabus by the Court
1. Where a labor dispute is in progress at the employer's premises and a stoppage of work occurs which is shown to be the result of an occurrence or event independent of and unrelated to the labor dispute, employees who are totally or partially unemployed by virtue of the stoppage of work are not disqualified from receiving benefits under W.Va.Code § 21A-6-3(4) (1976).
2. The existence of a possibility or probability that employees would not have reported to work had work been available and had pickets been present at the employer's premises is insufficient to support a finding that such employees were unavailable for work and therefore ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits, where the employees affirmatively show their willingness to accept available employment despite the existence of a labor dispute affecting other employers.
Ross Maruka and C. Patrick Carrick, Fairmont, for appellants.
Shaffer & Shaffer, Charles S. Piccirillo and R. L. Theibert, Madison, for appellees.
This case comes to us on appeal from a final order of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County which affirmed the judgment of the Board of Review of the West Virginia Department of Employment Security denying unemployment compensation benefits claimed by the appellants. Specifically, the Board of Review found that the appellants were not eligible for such benefits in that they were neither totally nor partially unemployed and were not available for work for which they were fitted by prior training and experience during the period of work stoppage involved here and, further, that appellants were disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation in that the work stoppage was occassioned by a labor dispute in which the appellants participated. We agree with the appellant's contention that the circuit court erred in affirming the findings and judgment of the Board of Review and we reverse the ruling of the circuit court.
The facts are essentially undisputed. The appellants were all employees of the appellee, Eastern Associated Coal Corporation (hereinafter Eastern), at the Federal No. 1 Mine at Grant Town, and were all members of United Mine Workers of America Local 4047 in July and August of 1976, when this dispute arose. In July 1976 an unauthorized strike by UMWA members started in the southern West Virginia coalfields and spread throughout the mining industry. 1 On July 26, 1976, roving pickets appeared at the Federal No. 1 Mine on the midnight shift. The appellants honored the picket line and did not appear for work, although there was no dispute between Eastern and Local 4047 at that time. As a result, the Federal No. 1 Mine was closed down from July 26, 1976, until August 2, 1976. Other mines were also closed down by roving pickets during this time.
On August 1, 1976, the members of Local 4047 voted to attempt to return to work unless prohibited by picket lines. At the 12:01 a. m. shift on August 2, 1976, pickets were present at the Federal No. 1 Mine. The appellants again honored the picket line and did not report for work. At the day shift, however, no pickets were present and approximately fifteen of the appellants appeared for work at that time.
During the day shift on August 2, 1976, a fire in the switching panel shorted out the communications system at the Federal No. 1 Mine. Eastern set about repairing the system and announced that no work would be available at the mine except for work performed in repairing the communications system. The repair work, which was performed by contract men, members of Local 4047, took approximately five days, during which time Eastern announced through regular channels that no work was available. During this time no pickets appeared at the Federal No. 1 Mine.
On August 8, 1976, Eastern announced through regular channels that work would be available at the Federal No. 1 Mine beginning at the 12:01 A.M. shift on August 9, 1976. At the beginning of that shift, however, roving pickets were again present and the appellants did not report for work. Local 4047 returned to work on the day shift on August 12, 1976, as did all other employees at mines in the area that had been shut down by roving pickets since July 26, 1976. At no time during the period from July 26, 1976 to August 12, 1976, did any of the members of Local 4047 picket the Federal No. 1 Mine, nor did Local 4047 have any dispute with the management of the mine at that time.
Beginning on August 18, 1976, the appellants filed claims for unemployment compensation benefits with the West Virginia Department of Unemployment Security pursuant to W.Va.Code § 21A-6-1 et seq. (1978 Replacement Vol.). The claims were referred to the Appeals Tribunal for an initial determination pursuant to W.Va.Code § 21A-7-4 (1978 Replacement Vol.), respecting the handling of labor dispute claims, and a hearing was held on December 29, 1976. On January 3, 1977, the Appeals Tribunal entered an order rejecting the appellants' claims. The appellants appealed this decision as provided in W.Va.Code § 21A-7-9 (1978 Replacement Vol.) to the Board of Review which, by order dated April 28, 1977, affirmed the decision of the Appeals Tribunal. The appellants then appealed to the Circuit Court of Kanawha County which, by order entered January 3, 1980, affirmed the judgment of the Appeals Tribunal and of the Board of Review. It is from that order that this appeal is taken.
The purpose of our unemployment compensation system is "to provide reasonable and effective means for the promotion of social and economic security by reducing as far as practicable the hazards of unemployment." W.Va.Code § 21A-1-1 (1978 Replacement Vol.); Homer Laughlin China Co. v. Hix, 128 W.Va. 613, 37 S.E.2d 649 (1946). The statute is not intended, however, to apply to those who "willfully contributed to the cause of their own unemployment." Board of Review v. Hix, 126 W.Va. 538, 541, 29 S.E.2d 618, 619 (1944). Rather, the intent of the act is to relieve those individuals who are able and willing to work but who, through no fault of their own, are unable to find suitable employment, of some of the anxieties and risks attendant to unemployment. Board of Review v. Hix, supra; Miners in General Group v. Hix, 123 W.Va. 637, 17 S.E.2d 810 (1941). See also Lackey v. Celebreeze, 349 F.2d 76 (4th Cir. 1965); London v. Board of Review, W.Va., 244 S.E.2d 331 (1978).
In order to avail himself of unemployment compensation benefits, a claimant must first show that he is eligible for benefits and is not disqualified from receiving them under our Unemployment Compensation Law, W.Va.Code § 21A-1-1 et seq. Among other things, a claimant for benefits must show that "(h)e is able to work and is available for full-time work for which he is fitted by prior training or experience ...." W.Va.Code § 21A-6-1(3) (1963). 2 In addition, in order to be eligible to receive benefits under the statute, the claimant must show that he is either totally or partially unemployed for that period for which he is claiming benefits. Pickens v. Kinder, 155 W.Va. 121, 181 S.E.2d 469 (1971). Total and partial unemployment is defined in W.Va.Code § 21A-1-3 (1976):
"Total and partial unemployment" means:
(1) An individual shall be deemed totally unemployed in any week in which such individual is separated from employment to an employing unit and during which he performs no services and with respect to which no wages are payable to him.
(2) An individual who has not been separated from employment shall be deemed to be partially unemployed in any week in which due to lack of work he performs no services and with respect to which no wages are payable to him, or in any week in which due to lack of full-time work wages payable to him are less than his weekly benefit amount plus fifteen dollars. 3
"Separated from employment" means "the total severance whether by quitting, discharge or otherwise, of the employer-employee relationship." Id. The circuit court found that the appellants were neither totally nor partially unemployed, nor were they available for full-time work by virtue of their participation in the labor dispute and that they were therefore ineligible to receive benefits under the statute. The circuit court also found that the appellants were statutorily disqualified from receiving benefits by virtue of W.Va.Code § 21A-6-3 (1976), which provides in pertinent part:
"Upon determination of the facts by the Commissioner, an individual shall be disqualified for benefits:
(4) For a week in which his total or partial unemployment is due to a stoppage of work which exists because of a labor dispute at the factory, establishment or other premises at which he was last employed unless the Commissioner is satisfied that he was not (one) participating, financing or directly interested in such dispute, and (two) did not belong to a grade or class of workers who were participating, financing, or directly interested in the labor dispute which resulted in the stoppage of work.... (emphasis added).
The ultimate question for our determination is whether the circuit court erred in finding that the appellants were unemployed during the week of August 2, 1976, as the result of a work stoppage due to a labor dispute. The record clearly indicates that the stoppage of work at the Federal No. 1 Mine during the week of August 2, 1976, was the result of fire damage to the mine's communication system. The parties admit and agree that Eastern ordered the Federal No. 1 Mine to cease operations in order to perform the necessary repairs to render the communications system operational in compliance with state law. 4 It is undisputed that Eastern announced on August 2, 1976, that no work was available at the Fed...
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