Bombard v. Department of Labor

Summary

The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed the denial of unemployment compensation benefits to a claimant who voluntarily quit after experiencing volatile and threatening behavior by workplace managers. The Court held that the claimant failed to establish good cause attributable to the employer because the conduct was not sufficiently compelling and he did not provide adequate notice or an opportunity for the employer to remedy the situation.

Holdings

1. Bombard failed to prove that a reasonable person would have been compelled to quit without notice under the circumstances, and therefore did not establish good cause for voluntarily leaving employment.
2. An employee generally must notify the employer of unsatisfactory working conditions and provide an opportunity to rectify them before quitting and seeking unemployment benefits.
3. The Board properly treated the Burlington and Essex incidents as separate and considered the Burlington grievance resolved by the transfer, particularly because Bombard did not challenge the Board's finding that he was satisfied with the transfer.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Board erred in concluding that Bombard voluntarily left employment without good cause attributable to the employer.
2. Whether the workplace conditions and the Essex manager's conduct were sufficiently serious to justify quitting without notice.
3. Whether Bombard gave the employer adequate notice and an opportunity to remedy the alleged working conditions before quitting.
4. Whether the Department properly limited consideration of the employer's response to conditions at the Essex store rather than the prior Burlington store.

Disposition

affirmed