Employer claimed employee quit because she didn't give a return date
In the case of a voluntary leave for good cause, only the clearest evidence of positive repudiation of the employee’s duty to return can show her intent to abandon her job, the California Court of Appeal recently said.
The plaintiff in the case of Johar v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board was working as a home improvement salesperson for Success Water Systems. With the sales manager’s permission, she left work to care for a terminally ill relative for around a week. Her employer decided that she quit while she was away, told her that business was slow, and gave her no new sales appointments upon her return.
The plaintiff filed a claim for unemployment benefits with the Employment Development Department and alleged that she lost her job due to a temporary layoff. The employer conceded that she left with her supervisor’s approval but denied laying her off. The employer said that the plaintiff’s failure to provide a return date or to otherwise communicate with her supervisor amounted to a voluntary quit.
The department found the plaintiff ineligible for unemployment benefits. An administrative law judge and the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board agreed with the department’s ruling. The plaintiff took the matter to the superior court, which dismissed the case without deciding whether it had merits and remanded it for further administrative proceedings. The plaintiff appealed.
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