In re O'Connell, 518505

• Decision Date: 14 May 2015
• Docket Number: 518505
• Parties: In the Matter of PERRY P. O'CONNELL, Appellant. COMMISSIONER OF LABOR, Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

128 A.D.3d 1190
9 N.Y.S.3d 463
2015 N.Y. Slip Op. 04176

In the Matter of PERRY P. O'CONNELL, Appellant.

COMMISSIONER OF LABOR, Respondent.

518505

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.

May 14, 2015.

9 N.Y.S.3d 464

Cynthia Feathers, Pro Bono Appeals Program, Albany (Alan J. Pierce of counsel), for appellant.

Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, New York City (Marjorie S. Leff of counsel), for respondent.

Before: LAHTINEN, J.P., McCARTHY, GARRY and LYNCH, JJ.

Opinion

GARRY, J.

128 A.D.3d 1190

Appeal from a decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, filed May 28, 2013, which ruled that claimant was disqualified from receiving unemployment insurance benefits because he voluntarily left his employment without good cause.

In 2012, claimant decided to close a catering business that he had operated for 34 years as a subchapter S corporation. His subsequent application for unemployment insurance

128 A.D.3d 1191

benefits was ultimately denied by the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board on the ground that he voluntarily left his employment without good cause. Claimant now appeals.

We affirm. “When a claimant closes an operating business, the issue of whether he or she is qualified to receive benefits turns upon whether there was a compelling reason to close the business” (Matter of Pitic [Commissioner of Labor], 249 A.D.2d 671, 671, 670 N.Y.S.2d 992 [1998] [citation omitted]; accord Matter of Lowman [Commissioner of Labor], 101 A.D.3d 1282, 1283, 956 N.Y.S.2d 229 [2012] ). Here, claimant testified that, beginning in 2009, his business began to decline and that, between 2009 and 2012, there was a 50% drop-off of catering contracts. The corporation's tax returns reflect, however, gross receipts of $297,167 in 2009, with a net income of $2,522, gross receipts of $281,397 in 2010, with a net income of...