Case Name: RESERVE MINING COMPANY, BABBITT DIVISION, Relator, v. Sharon M. GORECKI, Respondent, Commission of Economic Security, Respondent
Court: Minnesota Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Minnesota
Decision Date: 1982-03-05
Citations: 316 N.W.2d 547
Docket Number: No. 81-47
Parties: RESERVE MINING COMPANY, BABBITT DIVISION, Relator, v. Sharon M. GORECKI, Respondent, Commission of Economic Security, Respondent.
Judges: KELLEY, J., took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
Reporter: North Western Reporter 2d
Volume: 316
Pages: 547–550

Head Matter:
RESERVE MINING COMPANY, BABBITT DIVISION, Relator, v. Sharon M. GORECKI, Respondent, Commission of Economic Security, Respondent.
No. 81-47.
Supreme Court of Minnesota.
March 5, 1982.
Hanft, Fride, O’Brien & Harries, Duluth, for relator.
Sharon M. Górecki, pro se.
Warren Spannaus, Atty. Gen., and Joan Volz, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, for Commission of Economic Security.

Opinion:
SIMONETT, Justice.
The employer-relator Reserve Mining Company, Babbitt Division, appeals from the decision of the representative of the Commissioner, Department of Economic Security, filed December 19, 1980, which determined that the employee Sharon Górecki was qualified for the receipt of unemployment compensation benefits on the basis that she had good cause to refuse offers of reemployment made by the employer on July 30, 1977, and December 8, 1977. We affirm.
Górecki was employed by Reserve Mining Company as a laborer for the period from November 29, 1976, through June 25, 1977. She was informed prior to June 25, 1977, of a general company layoff for a 5-week period commencing on that date and expiring on July 30, 1977. She and other employees were informed by their employer that they should examine departmental schedules and be prepared to recommence work on July 31, 1977.
Górecki later testified that, faced with a 5-week layoff and a possible strike by her union, she moved to Minneapolis in an effort to reobtain her employment with the Normandy Motel as a cocktail waitress, indicating that she had financial difficulty which precipitated this move. The job was not available and on June 26,1977, she filed a valid claim petition with the Department of Economic Security. She continued to reside in Minneapolis and did not report to work on July 30, 1977, the date the employer's general layoff ended. Additionally, her union called a strike effective August 1, 1977, which forced the shutdown of all operations at the Babbitt Division. Górecki did not participate in the union strike vote, but she did report for picket line duty for one day during the strike which lasted from August 1, 1977, through December 6, 1977.
During the period of the strike, in October 1977, Górecki enrolled in and attended a CETA Program at the Occupational Skills and Training Center in Minneapolis to obtain bookkeeping skills. She worked part time in the accounts receivable department at the Liebermann Company and later, in March 1978, obtained part-time employment at the Normandy Inn. She was recalled by her employer on December 8,1977, by letter which required her to report not later than 15 days from the date of the written notice. Górecki did not respond to the notice and continued to receive unemployment compensation benefits.
On July 7, 1978, the claims deputy determined that Gorecki's refusals of the offers of reemployment were for good cause. The employer sought review from the appeal tribunal, and later by the representative of the commissioner, both of which determined that the employee's relocation approximately 270 miles from the employer's establishment constituted a good cause for her refusal of the offers of reemployment made on July 30, 1977, and December 8, 1977. This appeal followed.
The sole question for review is whether the decision of the representative of the commissioner to the effect that the employee had refused offers of reemployment for good cause is substantially supported by the record.
Minn.Stat. § 268.09, subd. 2 (1980), provides for the disqualification of an individual from the receipt of unemployment com pensation benefits if she has failed, without good cause, to accept suitable reemployment offers made by a base period employer. While in Hendrickson v. Northfield Cleaners, 295 N.W.2d 384 (Minn.1980), we enumerated factors to be considered in determining the suitability of offers of reemployment, each case must be examined within the context of the unique facts presented to determine whether the refusal was for good cause.
The narrow standard of review upon appeals from decisions of the commissioner is that the findings are to be reviewed in a light most favorable to the decision and if there is evidence reasonably tending to sustain them, they will not be disturbed. Booher v. Transport Clearings of Twin Cities, Inc., 260 N.W.2d 181 (Minn.1977).
The record before us indicates that this employee, when faced with a substantial layoff beyond her control, moved to the Twin Cities in an attempt to better her financial position by securing alternate employment. When her ability to resume employment was further interrupted by her union strike, she enrolled in a retraining program to improve her marketable skills. Under these unique circumstances, there is substantial evidentiary support for the decision of the representative of the commissioner that her relocation a great distance from the place of her original employment constituted the statutory good cause for her refusal to accept the offers.
While the employer argues that her enrollment in a retraining program rendered her "unavailable" for employment as defined in Minn.Stat. § 268.08, subd. 1(3) (1980), and that her participation, however limited, in the strike are disqualifying events, it failed to adequately raise these contentions during the agency proceedings. We are therefore without a record to conclude that it had sustained its burden of proof in either regard.
Affirmed.
KELLEY, J., took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.