Havrilchak
v. UCBR – Cmwlth. Court – December 14, 2015 – reported by order of February 14,
2016
http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Commonwealth/out/1054cd15_2-18-16.pdf#search=%22havrilchak%22
Woman
returning to work after pregnancy held to have quit her job without good cause when her request
for a limited period of part-time work was refused and she rejected employer’s
offer of full-time work. The employer
was Physician’s Health Alliance.
The
court saw claimant’s request as one to “unilaterially change the terms of her
employment from full-time to part-time,” Senkinc v. UCBR, 601 A.2d 418, 420
(Pa. Cmwlth. 1991). Because Employer
offered Claimant full-time employment, which she refused, the totality of the
circumstances reflect a voluntary quit, not a termination. Id.; see Andrevich
v. Unemployment Comp. Bd. of Review (Pa. Cmwlth., No. 658 C.D. 2010, filed
March 7, 2011) (unreported), 2011 WL 10843696 (claimant’s refusal to return to
work full-time after maternity leave constitutes a voluntary quit). As a
consequence, Claimant is ineligible for benefits unless she can establish a
necessitous and compelling reason for leaving her employment.
No
good cause to have refused employer offer - Claimant asserted that a medical
condition precluded her from returning to work full-time but didn't present evidence of that. In her questionnaire,
Claimant stated she left Employer for health reasons -- “post-partum depression
anxiety. A claimant has the burden to establish a
medical condition as a compelling reason to leave work. Genetin v. UCBR, 451
A.2d 1353 (Pa. 1982). Part of that
burden involves submitting documentation substantiating a claimant’s medical
condition to her employer. Bonanni v. UCBR, 519 A.2d 532 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1986). Here,
the record contains no indication that Claimant was unable to return to work
full-time based on medical necessity. Claimant admitted her
doctor released her to return to work.
Claimant
gave birth on October 18, was released to return to FT work on January 3, and
was given an extra three weeks to recuperate.
Based on a “totality of
circumstances,” the court rejected her argument that she had been fired, or
that she had good cause to refuse the employer offer of full-time work.
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N.B. This opinion was not initially reported. It was
later reported on motion of the UCBR.
Claimant was pro se.
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