Rothstein v. UCBR - Cmwlth. Court – February 11, 2015 – ordered
to be reported 4-29-2015
Order reporting opinion http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Commonwealth/out/875CD14ORD_4-29-15.pdf?cb=1
Held: Claimant committed willful
misconduct by violating an employer rule requiring him to report certain
off-duty misconduct, to wit, criminal arrests or convictions. In this case, claimant, whose job required
him to enter customers’ homes, had been arrested for, charged with and
convicted of indecent exposure.
Misconduct was proven even though
there was no evidence about the underlying acts, since “the very nature of the
charges” could affect claimant’s ability to do his job.
The fact that claimant’s union advised
him not to report his arrest did not establish “good cause” for not complying
with the employer rule. The union had
no responsibility under the employer rule.
Cf. Link v. UCBR, 446 A.2d 999 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1982). The rule put the responsibility to report on
the individual employee. “Violating the
policy by following the poor advice from the union does not relieve an employee
of the consequences of his violation, nor provide just cause for the violation.”
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