Opinion ID: 1302945
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Burden of Proof Regarding Suitability of Work.

Text: Next, Norland argues the department did not make the proper burden of proof determination. She urges that after a claimant has shown eligibility for benefits by proving her unemployed status, the department and the employer should bear the burden of proof on whether the work offered was suitable. [5] Specifically, she contends part of the employer's and department's burden should have been to offer evidence on every suitability factor in the statute and to show two things: how fringe benefits, or the lack thereof, would affect the statutory wage criteria, and whether the employee would be allowed to seek permanent work during business hours. We can see that part of this theory has support in the Code and the cases, but it does not compel a finding of legal error here. Generally, the burden of proof is on the party asserting the affirmative of an issue in an administrative proceeding. Wonder Life Co. v. Liddy, 207 N.W.2d 27, 31 (Iowa 1973); Gipson v. Iowa Dep't of Job Serv., 315 N.W.2d 834, 836 (Iowa App. 1981); see also Iowa R.App.P. 14(f)(5) (Ordinarily the burden of proof on an issue is upon the party who would suffer loss if the issue were not established.). While in an unemployment compensation case the burden is on the claimant to show entitlement to compensation, Des Moines Indep. Community School Dist. v. Department of Job Serv., 376 N.W.2d 605, 608 (Iowa 1985); Walles v. Iowa Employment Sec. Comm'n, 219 N.W.2d 539, 540 (Iowa 1974); Moulton v. Iowa Employment Sec. Comm'n, 239 Iowa 1161, 1172, 34 N.W.2d 211, 217 (1948), the burden shifts when the opposing party argues the claimant should be disqualified for benefits. See Des Moines Indep. Community School Dist., 376 N.W.2d at 608 (citing Taylor v. Iowa Dep't of Job Serv., 362 N.W.2d 534, 541 (Iowa 1985)) (once claimant shows entitlement to compensation, employer has burden of proving claimant quit job without cause attributable to employer); Harlan v. Iowa Dep't of Job Serv., 350 N.W.2d 192, 194 (Iowa 1984) (employer has burden of proving misconduct in order to justify denial of benefits); Cosper v. Iowa Dep't of Job Serv., 321 N.W.2d 6, 11 (Iowa 1982); Ray v. Iowa Dep't of Job Serv., 398 N.W.2d 191, 194 (Iowa App.1986); Gipson, 315 N.W.2d at 836 (In the instant case, ... the affirmative issue is not whether the claimant presently is eligible for benefits, but is whether the claimant is disqualified.... Since it is the agency which proffers this assertion, we believe the agency bears the initial burden.); Iowa Code § 96.6(2) (once claimant proves satisfaction of eligibility requirements of Iowa Code section 96.4 employer must show that claimant is disqualified for benefits under section 96.5); Note, The Iowa Employment Security Act (Unemployment Compensation), 11 Drake L.Rev. 125, 135 & n. 68 (1962) ([T]he commission has ruled that an employer who charges that the claimant is guilty of misconduct has the burden of proof to establish that fact, and this would probably also be the rule if an employer charges that the claimant has refused suitable work, since the claimant must establish his initial right to benefits before he is in a position to suffer a disqualification under these two provisions.). Because affirmative proof of suitability is part of the disqualification issue, Norland is correct in arguing she does not have the burden of proving the work she refused was unsuitable. This is not to say, however, the employer did not meet its burden of proof. First, we do not agree the employer should have been required, as part of its burden, to offer evidence on every one of the statutory suitability factors, or that it was necessary to show that Norland would have been allowed to seek permanent work during the business hours of her temporary position. Nothing in the record indicates Norland would have been prevented from seeking permanent employment while she was temporarily working at the bank, so no issue existed on which the employer should have presented evidence. Similarily, not all of the statutory suitability factors were at issue. If Norland thought other issues were present in the case, she should have raised them. Because Norland did not offer evidence into the record sufficient to raise these issues, she risked losing any potential relief based on them. See McDowell v. Town of Clarksville, 241 N.W.2d 904, 908 (Iowa 1976); McCormick on Evidence § 338, at 792 (2d ed. 1972) (If the proponent of an issue had remained silent at the outset he would irrevocably have lost the case on this issue.); Annotation, Unemployment Compensation: Eligibility as Affected by Claimant's Refusal to Accept Employment at Compensation Less Than That of Previous Job, 94 A.L. R.3d 63, 71 & n. 27 (1979) (Failure of the claimant to present evidence on the wage issue may cost the claimant his case on judicial review.). Next, Norland is incorrect in arguing the employer had the burden of proof on the issue whether fringe benefits would have affected the statutory wage criteria. The employer did offer evidence that the salary for the temporary position would have been the same as for Norland's original job. For Norland to suggest the employer had any burden to offer more is to confuse the two subcategories of the burden of proof: the burdens of persuasion and of producing evidence. The burden of ultimately persuading the trier of fact does not shift. McDowell, 241 N.W.2d at 908; McCormick on Evidence § 336, at 784. As we have said above, the employer had the ultimate burden on disqualification issues, which include any issue of wage adequacy. But the burden of producing evidence on the wage issue shifted to Norland once the employer had made out a prima facie case of adequate wages. By not offering evidence on fringe benefits as a rebuttal to the employer's prima facie case, Norland risked losing on this issue. See McDowell, 241 N.W.2d at 908 (If the proponent of a proposition generates a fact issue and his adversary adduces no proof, the adversary simply takes the risk of having the fact finder find that the proponent of the proposition sustained his burden of persuasion.); Wilson v. Findley, 223 Iowa 1281, 1300, 275 N.W. 47, 57 (1937); Gibbs v. Farmers' and Merchants' State Bank, 123 Iowa 736, 742, 99 N.W. 703, 706 (1904); McCormick on Evidence § 338, at 791-92. Further, it would have been difficult for Norland to show that the lack of fringe benefits affected the adequacy of the wages offered, since the statutory definition of wages specifically excludes fringe benefits. See Iowa Code § 96.19(12)(a)-(d). Finally, there is the matter of judicial deference to administrative fact finding. The hearing officer apparently thought the employer's burden was met. As with other issues of fact, we must show deference to the administrative fact finder, unless, as a matter of law, that fact finder was wrong. See Pohlman v. Ertl Co., 374 N.W.2d 253, 255 (Iowa 1985) (reviewing court may not interfere with findings of administrative fact finder regarding burden of proof unless finding was wrong as a matter of law). In Norland's case, there was no explicit assignment of the burden of proof to the wrong party, which we would be able to correct as a matter of law, nor was there any explicit finding as to who had the burden on a particular issue. Rather, the department simply found that the work refused was suitable and therefore Norland had to be disqualified from receiving benefits. Judging from the record, the department could reasonably have found that the employer carried its burden of proving Norland to be disqualified for benefits. We see no reason, as a matter of law, to disturb the findings of the department on this issue.