Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Department of Labor & Employment

Summary

The Colorado Supreme Court held that a claimant who resigned to move to California with her husband was subject to the reduced-benefit provision governing relocation, rather than the provision authorizing a full award for otherwise-unavoidable unemployment. The court reversed the court of appeals and Industrial Commission and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.

Holdings

1. The Industrial Commission lacked statutory authority to award full benefits under subsection 8-73-108(6) because that subsection applied only when a claim was not specifically covered by another provision, and the claimant's relocation was specifically covered by subsection 8-73-108(5)(d).
2. The claim could not be supported on a marital-obligation ground because the marital-obligation provision had been declared unconstitutional and was subsequently deleted from the statute.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Industrial Commission had statutory authority to award full unemployment benefits under section 8-73-108(6)(b)(VI) when the claimant's separation was specifically covered by section 8-73-108(5)(d), which required a reduction of benefits.
2. Whether the court needed to decide whether a married woman who leaves employment to relocate with her husband is unavoidably unemployed under section 8-73-108(6)(b)(VI).

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded