St. Martin v. Department of Labor

Summary

The Vermont Supreme Court reversed the Employment Security Board’s determination that the claimant voluntarily left employment without good cause attributable to her employer. The court held that the claimant reasonably quit after being told that the employer could not pay her wages, and that the later clearing of her paycheck did not negate the reasonableness of her belief at the time of separation.

Holdings

1. An employee has good cause attributable to the employer to leave employment when the employer affirmatively informs the employee that she should expect no compensation for her labor. The employer's statement constituted a present and actual event amounting to good cause, rather than a mere future possibility.
2. Later-occurring events, including the fact that the checks ultimately cleared, generally do not determine whether a claimant had good cause to quit. The relevant inquiry is what the claimant reasonably believed at the time of separation.
3. Kasnowski v. Department of Employment Security does not control where the employee is expressly told that she will not be paid; the present case is distinguishable from a quit based only on a speculative future possibility.

Questions Presented

1. Whether claimant had good cause attributable to her employer to voluntarily leave employment when the employer told her that she should expect not to be paid.
2. Whether the fact that the payroll checks ultimately cleared rendered claimant's belief at the time of separation unreasonable.
3. Whether the Board improperly applied Kasnowski v. Department of Employment Security to treat claimant's anticipated nonpayment as only a future possibility.

Disposition

reversed