TAMYRA L. COTTMAN VS. BOARD OF REVIEW, ET AL.
A-1908-16T2
The panel reversed the Board of Review's denial of unemployment compensation. The Board affirmed the Appeal Tribunal's decision that the claimant voluntarily quit her job as a group home worker without good cause related to her work. Her child care fell through unexpectedly and she could not find a co-worker to cover her shift. The panel held that the Board overlooked evidence that the claimant was entitled to benefits under N.J.A.C. 12:17-9.5, because she quit in the face of imminent discharge: her supervisor threatened she might be fired if she did not come in. Had the claimant been fired for staying home, she would have been eligible for benefits. Although "good cause related to the work" under the voluntary quit statute, N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(a), excludes compelling personal reasons, "good cause for being absent from work," in the regulation defining simple misconduct, includes "any compelling personal circumstance, which would normally prevent a reasonable person under the same conditions from reporting work." N.J.A.C. 12:17-10.2(b). The panel concluded that, in order to be eligible for benefits, the claimant was not required to wait to be fired when discharge was imminent.
