Crane v. UCBR – Cmwlth. Court – 8-15-23 – unreported memorandum opinion**
N.B. Claimant was represented by North Penn Legal Services. Well done !
Held: Claimant had good cause to quit her job, after 16 years as an aide to special needs children, where the school district denied her request for a leave of absence w/o pay. Claimant decided to stay at home to care for her suicidal daughter, who attended school every other day but who, when at home, needed to have an adult present to keep her safe.
A claimant who voluntarily quits bears the burden of proving necessitous and compelling cause for leaving her job. Brunswick Hotel & Conf. Ctr., LLC v. UCBR., 906 A.2d 657 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2006). Specifically, a claimant must establish that “(1) circumstances existed which produced real and substantial pressure to terminate employment; (2) such circumstances would compel a reasonable person to act in the same manner; (3) the claimant acted with ordinary common sense; and (4) the claimant made a reasonable effort to preserve her employment.” Id. at 660. A determination as to whether necessitous and compelling cause for leaving employment exists is a question of law, subject to plenary review by the court.,
No substantial evidence for two of UCBR findings –
The court held that there was no substantial evidence to support the Board’s findings on two critical issues
- Claimant informing the school that her daughter had suicidal tendences and could not stay at home alone
- Claimant informing school that she was willing to work every other day, in accordance with her daughter’s school schedule
Claimant’s evidence on these points was clean and undisputed, even looking at the evidence in the light most favorable to the school.
FMLA – Claimant’s leave request was tantamount to a request under FMLA – Family and Medical Leave Act
In Eshbach v. UCBR, 855 A.2d 943, 949 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2004), the court held that a claimant must notify the employer that leave is necessary to care for a serious medical condition but he or she need not expressly request FMLA leave in order to trigger an employer’s obligation. Id. at 948. In other words, an employer’s obligation is triggered when it acquires knowledge that an employee’s leave may be for an FMLA-qualifying reason. Here, Employer did not contradict Claimant’s testimony that she informed the Superintendent of the daughter’s needs thereby providing Employer with sufficient information to trigger its obligation, at a minimum, to make further inquiries of her regarding purported grounds for eligibility under the FMLA. Consequently, Claimant made reasonable efforts to preserve her employment by way of a request for unpaid leave and/or via her query as to whether there was anything she could do in order to remain employed. Employer is not an unsophisticated employer, it had unfettered access to the daughter’s confidential records, and Claimant had worked there for sixteen years.
Accordingly, the court held that Claimant met her burden of proving that she had necessitous and compelling cause for her voluntary quit and, therefore, reversed the decision of the UCBR.
** An unreported decision of the Commonwealth Court can be cited “for its persuasive value, but not as binding precedent” under 210 Pa. Code 69.414 (citing judicial opinions in filings).
