Title: Wahlstrom v. Job Service North Dakota
Citation: 406 N.W.2d 693
Docket Number: 11377
State: north-dakota
Issuer: north-dakota Supreme Court
Date: May 28, 1987

406 N.W.2d 693 (1987) David WAHLSTROM, Petitioner and Appellee, v. JOB SERVICE NORTH DAKOTA, Respondent and Appellant, and Twin City Construction Co., Inc., Respondent. Civ. No. 11377. Supreme Court of North Dakota. May 28, 1987. Leslie Johnson-Soetebier, Fargo, for petitioner and appellee. Sidney Hertz Fiergola, Asst. Atty. Gen., Job Service North Dakota, Bismarck, for respondent and appellant. MESCHKE, Justice. We consider whether an employee, who quits for self-employment after his regular job is made tentative and temporary, can later qualify for unemployment benefits. We hold that he can. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's reversal of the denial of benefits to the employee. Twin City Construction employed David Wahlstrom as a cabinet builder in 1981. In March 1985, Twin City closed its cabinet shop but kept Wahlstrom on to do other carpentry work and odd jobs. In July 1985 talk about layoff began. Wahlstrom testified: His supervisor testified that he had discussed layoff with Wahlstrom "the last couple months": On November 1, 1985, Wahlstrom left Twin City for self-employment as a carpenter. When that venture was unsuccessful, Wahlstrom sought unemployment benefits. Job Service denied benefits, ruling that Wahlstrom "had voluntarily left his employment for reasons which were not attributable to the employer." After hearing, a Job Service referee found: The referee denied benefits, saying: On Wahlstrom's appeal of the Job Service ruling, the district court recognized it was "a particularly hard case" but initially affirmed. Within two weeks, the district court reconsidered in the light of our then recent decision in Carlson v. Job Service North Dakota, 391 N.W.2d 643 (N.D.1986), reversed Job Service, and held that Wahlstrom was eligible for unemployment benefits. The district court reasoned: Job Service appeals, asking reinstatement of its ruling that Wahlstrom was not eligible for unemployment benefits. Job Service argues that since Wahlstrom left employment for self-employment, his reason for leaving was not attributable to his employer. An employee who leaves employment "voluntarily without good cause attributable to the employer" is not entitled to unemployment benefits. N.D.C.C. § 52-06-02(1). We observed in Carlson v. Job Service North Dakota, 391 N.W.2d 643, 645 (N.D.1986) that "whether a person left employment `voluntarily' is a mixed question of fact and law, where the evidence must *695 support findings of fact which, in turn, must sustain the conclusion of `voluntariness.'" But, "it is not possible to determine accurately whether the act of a worker in leaving his job was voluntary unless one takes account of the causes which led to his action." Crum, "Constructive Voluntary Quit" DisqualificationA Study in Employment Security, 44 N.D.L.Rev. 309, 311 (1968). To fairly apply the statutory disqualification, the findings and conclusions of Job Service, as the administrative agency responsible for administering unemployment benefits, must accurately identify the principal cause of an employee leaving employment. N.D.C.C. § 28-32-19. Thus, in Carlson, supra, we ruled that a planned firing for job failings other than disqualifying misconduct was "good cause attributable to the employer," which made a quit involuntary. On the other hand, in Ewert v. Job Service North Dakota, 403 N.W.2d 4 (N.D.1987), we held that a worker who quit "for purely personal reasons" before a planned seasonal layoff "left his most recent employment voluntarily without a good cause attributable to the employer." In Ewert, we recognized that "[t]here may be circumstances where a quit in advance of a layoff would be for `good cause attributable to the employer'." The findings show that the transformation of Wahlstrom's once permanent and regular employment to something tentative and temporary was caused by his employer, not by his own doing. The employer changed the "rules" of his employment in the middle of the "game." Thus, Wahlstrom's leaving his employment at Twin City was plainly and principally brought about by this pronounced uncertainty, "from week to week," a reason attributable to the employer. Since Wahlstrom left for self-employment, his conduct was consistent with a genuine desire to continue to work. There is nothing in the findings to suggest that he was trying to take advantage of unemployment benefits "for purely personal reasons" as in Ewert. The administrative decision failed to take into account the unfavorable action of the employer, although the agency's findings identified that action. An administrative agency must base its decision upon the record as a whole. Roberts v. North Dakota Workmen's Compensation Bureau, 326 N.W.2d 702 (N.D.1982). Therefore, we conclude, as the district court did, that the findings do not support the agency's decision and that Wahlstrom left his employment at Twin City for a "good cause attributable to the employer," which made his leaving involuntary. Accordingly, the district court correctly reversed the denial of unemployment benefits to Wahlstrom. LEVINE and GIERKE, JJ., concur. VANDE WALLE, Justice, dissenting. Except to note that "whether a person left employment `voluntarily' is a mixed question of fact and law, where the evidence must support findings of fact which, in turn, must sustain the conclusion of `voluntariness,' " little discussion can be found in the majority opinion of the standard of review applicable in appeals from decisions of administrative agencies. An examination of that standard, which applies to the review conducted by the district court on appeal as well as to this court, reveals that: Furthermore, when this court considers an appeal from a judgment of the district *696 court reviewing the decision of an administrative agency, we review the decision of the agency, not the decision of the trial court. Skjefte, supra. Although it may seem trite to constantly repeat these standards, it apparently is necessary to do so lest we rationalize, expressly or impliedly, that the court should really make the decisions which the Legislature has specified are to be made by the administrative agency. Applying these standards of review to this case, I would reverse the decision of the district court and affirm the decision of Job Service North Dakota. As the majority opinion notes, the district court apparently was influenced by this court's decision in Carlson v. Job Service North Dakota, 391 N.W.2d 643 (N.D.1986). However, Carlson was a far different case from this. Carlson involved an employee who quit because she was told she was being fired for insufficient job performance and, as Justice Meschke, writing for the court, observed at page 646 of the reported decision: "[N]o purpose would be served by constructing a concept of `voluntariness' that requires continuation of the necessarily unpleasant atmosphere between a fired employee and a frustrated supervisor." In this instance, however, the employer, Twin City Construction, closed the department in which Wahlstrom, the employee, worked, but nevertheless attempted to keep him employed by finding other work for him to do. We were informed that although this other work involved considerably less skill than was required in his position as a cabinetmaker, Twin City Construction continued to pay him at the same rate he earned while working as a cabinetmaker. I have difficulty in imagining two more different situations. Nor do I deem the statement in Ewert v. Job Service North Dakota, 403 N.W.2d 4 (N.D.1987), that "There may be circumstances where a quit in advance of a layoff would be for `good cause attributable to the employer,'" as being in any manner prophetic. Rather, it seems to me that it may be very difficult to rationalize a distinction between this case and Ewert in which a worker quit before a planned seasonal layoff. If the planned layoff is the key to these cases, there is no distinction. The only distinction between this case, Ewert, and Carlson is, in my estimation, the reason for the layoff. The concept of "voluntariness" is different for persons who are scheduled for planned layoffs that have nothing to do with job performance and those who quit because they are to be fired for insufficient job performance. ERICKSTAD, C.J., concurs.