10-18-07 A-1880-06T2
Defendant employer notified plaintiff that she was not a
candidate for partner at his veterinary office, and that she
would need to find new employment as soon as possible. After
leaving her employer on the basis of tension in the workplace,
giving sixty days notice pursuant to her contract of employment,
plaintiff's claim for unemployment was contested by defendant
employer and subsequently denied. Plaintiff first appealed to
the Appeal Tribunal, which affirmed the denial of her claim, and
next to the Board of Review of the Department of Labor, which
also affirmed the denial of her claim. Both the Appeal Tribunal
and the Board of Review relied upon N.J.S.A. 12:17-9.5 in
determining that plaintiff was ineligible for benefits, stating
that plaintiff's separation from her employer was not imminent.
We held that the Appeal Tribunal and Board of Review
mistakenly relied upon N.J.S.A. 12:17-9.5 in finding that
plaintiff's separation from her employer was not imminent. The
parties were obligated to each other under the employment
contract to provide sixty days notice before terminating the
employment relationship. Thus, the "within" sixty days
provision of N.J.S.A. 12:17-9.5 did not apply to plaintiff.
Further, the regulation does not mandate disqualification from
unemployment benefits. Because plaintiff had good cause for
voluntarily leaving her employer attributable to defendant
employer's statements regarding her seemingly imminent layoff,
we reversed the decision of the Board of Review.
