Downey v. UCBR - Commonwealth Court - December 19, 2006
http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/CWealth/out/1050CD06_12-19-06.pdf
Claimant engaged in willful misconduct when he falsely claimed total disability and accepted disability benefits while engaging in activities inconsistent with such claims -- i.e., doing substantial, heavy home repair work. The court said that there were no cases exactly on point, but likened this to theft cases, holding that "dishonesty or misrepresentation can exhibit a disregard of the employer's interests and disregard of standards of behavior that the employer can rightfully expect from its employees."
The fact that the employer allowed claimant to return to light duty work on May 4th before discharging him on July 29th was held not to bring the case within the remoteness doctrine, which holds that an unexplained substantial delay between the alleged misconduct and job termination precludes the employer from relying on such misconduct. Here, the employer was gathering evidence and pursuing an investigation through proper bureaucratic channels.
