Littlefield v. Department of Employment and Training

• Decision Date: 14 December 1984
• Docket Number: No. 83-411,83-411
• Citation: 487 A.2d 507,145 Vt. 247
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court
• Parties: Deborah LITTLEFIELD v. DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING.

Page 507

487 A.2d 507

145 Vt. 247

Deborah LITTLEFIELD v. DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING.

No. 83-411.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

Dec. 14, 1984.

Deborah Littlefield, pro se.

Steven J. Kantor, Montpelier, for defendant-appellee.

Before HILL, UNDERWOOD, PECK and GIBSON, JJ., and KEYSER, J. (Ret.), Specially Assigned.

UNDERWOOD, Justice.

The claimant, Deborah Littlefield, appeals a decision by the Employment Security Board (Board) disqualifying her from receiving extended unemployment compensation benefits. The Board upheld the rulings of the Appeals Referee and the Claims Examiner, each of whom had held that the claimant was disqualified from receiving extended benefits because she had left the employ of her "last employing unit" due to a health condition which was not attributable to that employing unit. 21 V.S.A. §§ 1344(a)(3), 1344(c), 1423(a)(2). The Board disqualified the claimant from receiving extended benefits for the week ending February 12, 1983, and until such time as she had earned wages in excess of four times her weekly benefit amount. 21 V.S.A. § 1344(c).

Claimant contends, first, that the Board erroneously concluded that she left the employment of the Counseling Service of Addison County (CSAC) for health reasons, and, second, that the Board erroneously found CSAC to be her "last employing unit." We agree with her second contention and reverse.

The pertinent facts in this case are as follows. On January 29, 1982, the claimant's employment with the Addison County State's Attorney's Office was terminated. She applied for unemployment compensation benefits on February 11, 1982. Pursuant to 21 V.S.A. § 1343(a)(4), the week ending February 13, 1982, was designated as the required one week waiting period, for which she was not entitled to unemployment benefits. Beginning with the week ending February 20, 1982, the claimant was entitled to and received weekly unemployment benefits in the amount of $104.00. These payments continued for twenty-six weeks, allowing her to receive the maximum benefits permitted under 21 V.S.A. § 1340. Upon the exhaustion of these benefits, the claimant applied for federal supplemental unemployment compensation benefits. The claimant received ten weeks additional unemployment compensation under this program; her last week of eligibility was the week ending November 20, 1982. As of that date, she had exhausted all sources of then-available unemployment compensation benefits. ¹

On November 23, 1982, the claimant began working for CSAC, at an hourly rate of $4.00. Her work for CSAC spanned a period of 45 days (November 23, 1982, to January 6, 1983), during which time she worked a total of twelve hours, earning a total of $48.00 in wages. On January 12, 1983, the claimant suffered a broken kneecap in an accident which was unrelated to her work with CSAC. Following her accident, she notified CSAC that her injury prevented her from continuing to carry out her duties as a mental health aide, but that she would contact CSAC when she was able to resume her duties. The claimant never notified CSAC when she was again physically able to resume her duties as a mental health aide. On March 4, 1983, the claimant began full-time employment as a secretary at Middlebury College. On March 29, 1983, she submitted a formal letter of resignation to CSAC.

On February 10, 1983, the claimant applied for extended unemployment compensation benefits. 21 V.S.A. §§ 1421-1426. She claimed entitlement to such benefits for the six-week period from February 6 through March 19, 1983. The claimant was denied extended benefits as a result of having left her employment with CSAC due to nonwork-related health conditions.

I.

Ms. Littlefield contends that her decision not to pursue her activities as a CSAC mental health aide did not constitute a termination of employment for reasons not attributable to CSAC. The bases for her contention are first, that she was not "employed" by CSAC, and second, that her decision to temporarily suspend her activities for CSAC were not caused by health problems.

This Court has recently reiterated our longstanding position that

[t]he findings of the referee and the Board "are to be affirmed if supported by credible evidence, even in the presence of substantial evidence to the contrary."

.... The test to be applied is whether the evidence in an employment security appeal is adequate to support the findings--whether the record contains " 'any credible evidence fairly and reasonably supporting' " those findings.

Miner v. Department of Employment & Training, 144 Vt. 211, 213, 475 A.2d 233, 235 (1984) (quoting In re Wheelock, 130 Vt. 136, 141, 139, 287 A.2d 569, 572, 571 (1972)). "The findings of the Board will not be disturbed unless, 'considered as a whole, there is no evidence to support the decision.' " Stryszko v. Department of Employment & Training, 144 Vt. 198, 199, 475 A.2d 230, 231 (1984) (quoting Hill v. Department of Employment Security, 141 Vt. 455, 456, 449 A.2d 969, 969 (1982)). With these tests in mind, we turn to the facts of the present case.

Ms. Littlefield was clearly employed by CSAC, as evidence by her signed contract with them. The fact of employment is not dependent upon receipt of a minimum amount of compensation; the claimant admits an uncontested intent to enter into an employment contract. Furthermore, the refusal of the claimant to continue her activities as a mental health aide following her accident on January 12, 1983, constitutes a suspension of her employment with CSAC for nonemployment-related health reasons. Except for her injury, incurred on January 12, 1983, there is no evidence to indicate that she would not have continued to perform her duties on the same basis as before. Such a suspension need not be formal or permanent to constitute a termination under 21 V.S.A. § 1344(a)(3). Although the claimant may have been able to do secretarial work, she was unwilling or unable to continue, due to physical restrictions, her duties as a mental health aide. This was the position which she had contracted to fill. On the basis of the facts in the record before us, we are unable to conclude that the Board erred in its determination that the claimant terminated her employment with CSAC for nonemployment-related health reasons.

II.

Ms. Littlefield's second contention is that her employment with CSAC was not sufficient to allow CSAC to be deemed her "last employing unit" under 21 V.S.A. § 1344(a)(3), and that the Board misinterpreted the meaning of that statutory term when it found CSAC to be her last employing unit. ² We have had the occasion, in other cases, to interpret the meaning of language contained in the Unemployment Compensation Law, 21 V.S.A. ch. 17. The present case, however, gives us our first opportunity to address the meaning of the statutory term "last employing unit" in the context of 21 V.S.A. § 1344(a)(3).

We start with the premise that "when the meaning of a statute is plain on its face we must enforce it according to its express terms." Jones v. Department of Employment Security, 140 Vt. 552, 554, 442 A.2d 463, 464 (1982) (citing Nolan v. Davidson, 134 Vt. 295, 298, 357 A.2d 129, 131 (1976); State v. Santi, 132 Vt. 615, 617, 326 A.2d 149, 151 (1974)).

We have recognized that where the meaning of words is clear and not ambiguous, we must construe them in their ordinary sense. We also consider that the [Unemployment Compensation Act], as remedial legislation, is to be construed liberally in favor of the claimant. And, while we give weight to administrative construction, only the legislative intent as expressed in the language of the statute is binding upon us.

Grenafege v. Department of Employment Security, 134 Vt. 288, 290, 357 A.2d 118, 120 (1976) (citations omitted). When, as in the present case, there are two opposing interpretations of statutory language--that is, whether the term "last employing unit" means last in time or last one chargeable--"[t]he function of this Court ... is to apply to the facts as accurately as possible the intent of the Legislature as evidenced by the statute itself." Nolan, supra, 134 Vt. at 298, 357 A.2d at 131. ³

This Court has consistently noted

that the underlying purposes of unemployment legislation are to remove economic disabilities and distress resulting from involuntary unemployment, and to assist those workers who become jobless for reasons beyond their control. Thus, since the Unemployment Compensation Act is remedial legislation, "a claimant should not be excluded from the provisions of the Act unless such an exclusion is clearly intended by law."

Donahue v. Department of Employment Security, 142 Vt. 351, 354, 454 A.2d 1244, 1246 (1982) (citations omitted). Problems involving statutory interpretation arise from the unavoidable fact that implementation of any legislative enactment requires that bare-bone statutory directives be subjected to the vagaries of human judgment and reason before they can be made practicable. Frequently the result is that the courts are left with the task of construing and applying the generalized principles set out in the statutory schemata to a specific set of facts.

Jenkins v. Department of Employment Security, 135 Vt. 210, 212, 373 A.2d 533, 534 (1977) (citations omitted). Having set forth the basis for our interpretation of the language of 21 V.S.A. § 1344(a)(3), we turn now to determine if CSAC was in fact or at law the "last employing unit" of the claimant.

Ms. Littlefield's unemployment benefits are derived from her base period employment with the Addison County State's Attorney's Office. This base period employment determined her basic eligibility for unemployment benefits, the amount of her weekly benefits and the beginning of her benefit year. It was this employment history which entitled her to twenty-six weeks of unemployment compensation benefits and ten weeks of federal supplemental compensation. Consequently, this employment...