Lease v. Commonwealth, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review
Lease v. Commonwealth, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review
Opinion of the Court
OPINION by
This is an appeal by claimant Karen L. Lease from an order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Board). The Board determined that
Claimant was employed by Nissin Foods as a forklift operator, her last day of work being August 25, 1980. On August 20, 1980, claimant’s supervisor requested that she work overtime on Saturday, August 23, 1980, and claimant agreed to do so. On Friday, August 22, 1980, however, claimant’s husband reminded her of their plans to attend an out-of-state wedding on the twenty-third. When claimant reported for work on Friday, she notified her supervisor that she would not be able to work overtime that Saturday. A heated discussion ensued, during which claimant insisted that she would not report for work the following day because her husband had made reservations for lodgings. Prior to the end of her shift on Friday, August 22, 1980, supervisor stated that he would see her in the morning, to which remark she made no reply. Claimant did not appear for work the following day, and did not telephone to report her absence, as required by her employer’s regulations. On August 25, 1980 she was discharged from her employment.
The Board concluded that claimant’s failure to call her employer on Saturday, August 23, 1980 to report her absence constituted willful misconduct precluding an award of benefits.
While “willful misconduct” is not defined in Section 402(e), our Courts have construed this term to
Order
A Nn Now, the 1st day of October, 1982, the order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review at Decision No. B-195197 is hereby reversed.
Act of December 5, 1936, Second Ex. Sess., P.L. (1937) 2897, as amended, 43 P.S. §802 (e).
we note that employees were not required, as a condition-of employment, to work overtime. Thus, a charge of willful misconduct could not be predicated on this basis.
Dissenting Opinion
Dissenting Opinion by
I must respectfully dissent.
I believe that the claimant’s failure to report her absence on August 23 amounted to willful misconduct. The findings of the Board reveal that she had been specifically informed by her employer at the end of her shift on August 22 that she was expected to work the next day and that she made no reply. The Board also found that the claimant had called in sick
I would conclude that, despite the earlier discussion of the claimant’s ability to work on August 23, she knew when she left work on August 22 that her employer expected her to appear the next day and that, therefore, her deliberate refusal to report her absence constituted willful misconduct.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.