Polk v. State, Department of Industrial Relations
Polk v. State, Department of Industrial Relations
Opinion
This is an unemployment compensation case.
The claimant was denied compensation after appeal to the circuit court. Claimant appeals from that denial. The issue is whether, as appellee contends and the trial court obviously found, claimant voluntarily left without good cause and should therefore be disqualified from receiving benefits. §
Sybil Polk is a fifty-four-year-old woman who was employed by Bon Secour fisheries for about ten years. During her employment with Bon Secour she performed many different jobs including deheading, deveining and packing shrimp and unloading boats. She "had done everything else in the place except shuck oysters" and in August *Page 723 1979 approached her supervisor to ask if she could try shucking oysters. Her supervisor agreed and Mrs. Polk went to shucking.
Mrs. Polk worked two or three weeks shucking oysters and was unable to continue due to bursitis in a wrist and elbow. She'd had bursitis for some fourteen years but during her ten years with Bon Secour had been subject to only occasional "flare-ups." She testified that she had constant attacks of bursitis while shucking oysters, that shucking irritated her condition and that when an attack would occur her wrist and hand would swell and she could not use her wrist, hand or fingers. She didn't realize that shucking oysters would bother her until she started, but she couldn't physically do the job. Her complaints about the job irritating her bursitis stem from having to hold the oyster tight and pry it open with a knife.
After the two or three weeks of shucking she approached her supervisor about returning to her previous job packing shrimp. She testified she explained her problem to the supervisor, was told there was no positions available in her old job and that "he would be calling me." She had no further contact with Bon Secour, applied for unemployment compensation, had been looking for a job, was available for work and could physically do her old jobs at Bon Secour but "couldn't shuck oysters."
Section
"Good cause" for leaving one's employment may well be prompted by the claimant's ill health or physical infirmity where the illness or infirmity results from, is connected with or is caused by the employment. Department of IndustrialRelations v. Chapman,
We have reviewed the record most carefully. The appellee's evidence, in the form of testimony of the claimant's supervisor, in no way disputed or contradicted the claimant's evidence as to her reason for quitting work. In light of claimant's undisputed evidence establishing good cause for leaving connected with her work, the trial court's judgment denying unemployment compensation benefits must be reversed.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
BRADLEY and HOLMES, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Sybil Louise Polk v. State of Alabama, Department of Industrial Relations.
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published