Tiedemann v. Commonwealth, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review
Tiedemann v. Commonwealth, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Timothy J. Tiedemann appeals an order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review which affirmed a referee’s denial of benefits under Section 401(d)(1) of the Unemployment Compensation Law (Law).
Claimant was employed by Louis Lehrman & Sons to work from June through September 1982 as a temporary summer replacement “order puller.” On August 20, 1982, claimant quit work to enroll as a part-time student in Shippensburg College’s non-degree continuing education program. He carried ten credits and from September through December attended classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:00 am. to 10:00 a.m.; Tuesdays from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.; and, on Monday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Claimant applied for unemployment benefits on October 3,1982. At the initial claims interview claimant disclosed his part-time student status, indicated his availability for full-time employment (at any hours) and evinced a willingness to modify his class schedule to accommodate a job. The Office of Employment Security (OES) awarded benefits after determining that claimant was able and available for suitable work.
Breen and its progeny
At the hearings claimant testified that he was enrolled as a part-time student in a non-degree, cotinuing education program that required seven and one-
Notwithstanding claimant’s relevant, uncontradieted testimony and our decision in Wagner, which was filed three months before the board’s final decision, the board’s sole “finding” regarding availability was that “ [t]he claimant was primarily a student rather than a worker. ’ ’ Although the remand was for additional findings to determine the extent to which claimant’s educational commitments limited his availability, the board inexplicably failed to make such findings, concluding reflexively that claimant was not available for work because of his student status and class schedule.
We believe that the board committed an error of law when it automatically concluded that claimant was not available for suitable work because of his part-time student status. Biemesderfer v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 71 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 576, 455 A.2d 302 (1983) (part-time student eligible under Section 401(d) because willing to accept part-time work). Further, our careful review of the record reveals a lack of evidence sufficient to demonstrate that claimant’s educational pursuits effectively removed him from his local labor market. Wagner. In view of claimant’s employment history, his determined efforts to obtain employment, his expressed willingness to modify his class schedule to accommodate a job and to work shifts and weekends, “ [i]t is difficult to imagine what further proof of availability the claimant . . . could offer.” Reardon v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 30 Pa.
Accordingly, we will reverse the order of the board.
Order
And Now, this 26th day of October, 1984, the order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review at B-214810-B, dated September 13, 1983, is reversed.
Act of December 5, 1936, Second Ex. Sess., P.L. (1937) 2897, as amended, 43 P.S. §801(d) (1).
See also Gerber v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 79 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 117, 468 A.2d 888 (1983) ; Sickafuse v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 76 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 608, 464 A.2d 689 (1983) ; Wagner v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 74 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 593, 460 A.2d 1210 (1983).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.