Court Opinion

ID: 9700416
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 21:26:48.579529+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:08.770207
License: Public Domain

MESCHKE, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. In my opinion, the Referee’s findings, conclusions, and decisions in these cases are reasonable, while the contradictory findings and decisions by the Executive Director of Job Service, said to be “conducted on the basis of the information contained in the record,” are unreasonable and unexplained.
A person is disqualified for unemployment compensation benefits if she has left her employment “voluntarily without good cause attributable to the employer.” NDCC 52-06-02(1). In several situations, however, this specific disqualification “does not apply.” Id. Two of those exceptions deal with illness or injury. Id. These claimants concede the first exception for leaving employment “following illness or injury upon a physician’s written notice or order” does not apply to them because they did not “notiffy] the employer of the physician’s requirement and ... offer[ ] service for suitable work to the employer upon the individual’s capability of returning to employment.” NDCC 52-06-02(1) (second “does not apply” clause). Rather, claimants would seem to qualify for benefits under the third “does not apply” clause:
This subsection does not apply if the individual left the most recent employment because of an injury or illness caused or aggravated by the employment; no benefits may be paid under this exception unless the individual leaves employment upon a physician’s written notice or order, the individual has notified the employer of the physician’s requirement, and there is no reasonable alternative but to leave employment.
In any event, under NDCC 52-06-36, there is the specific requirement that, “in determining the existence of good cause for [any claimant] voluntarily leaving [her] work under ... section 52-06-02[ (1) ], there must be considered among other factors ... the degree of risk involved to [her] health....”1
In these cases, Job Service does not contest Esselman’s filed medical statement from her physician that he had advised her to quit her job “because of illness,” identifying “SEVERE MUSCLE TENSION HEADACHES,” nor does Job Service confront Carlson’s filed medical statement from her physician that he had advised her to quit her job “because of illness,” identifying “depression, stress related symptoms and insomnia.”
*407The public policy of this state seeks to soften the harsh impact of involuntary unemployment. NDCC 52-01-05; Newland v. Job Serv. North Dakota, 460 N.W.2d 118, 121 (N.D.1990). As remedial statutes, the unemployment compensation statutes must be liberally construed to effectuate the public policies expressed in them. Newland at 122; 76 Am.Jur.2d Unemployment Compensation § 14 (1992). Uncorreeted harassment by other employees that make working conditions intolerable creates good cause attributable to the employer. 76 Am.Jur.2d Unemployment Compensation § 105, p. 875; Karloff v. Unemployment Compensation Bd. Of Review, 109 Pa.Cmwlth. 498, 531 A.2d 582, 584 (1987) (Voluntary termination of employment “due to a personality conflict with another employee which renders working conditions intolerable will constitute cause of a necessitous and compelling nature for terminating employment.”).
For Esselman, the Referee reasonably determined:
The claimant quit her job after she became dissatisfied with the conditions of her employment. The claimant was often made to feel as though she was part of a faction within the unit to be avoided. She was treated with indifference, threatened by a co-worker, and, in general, treated as a problem maker by the co-workers and management. The claimant’s supervisor was aware of the stressful conditions that involved the claimant, co-workers, and management through her own observations and numerous discussions with the claimant.
The claimant eventually sought relief by discussing her concerns with the agency director. She requested a meeting with the director and her supervisors in order to resolve the conflict. The employer denied this request. When the conditions of employment did not improve, the claimant addressed her concerns to the agency head, in accordance with what she believed was company policy. The claimant was never made aware of any other grievance procedure.
In October 1994, a counselor from the employee assistance program was called in to address the conflict among the claimant, co-workers, and management. During this same period, the claimant was put on medication for symptoms of work-related depression and was advised to quit her employment. The claimant, however, chose to continue working in the hope that conditions would improve.
The final incident occurred on January 11, 1995, during a staff meeting designed to resolve the conflicts present in the workplace. During this meeting, the program director revealed the names of the individuals who had.addressed their concerns to the agency head; namely, the claimant and two co-workers. The claimant was humiliated over the breach of confidentiality by the program director. During this meeting, the employer also allowed co-workers to engage in name calling toward the claimant for addressing her concerns to the agency head. The claimant realized that her employment conditions would not change and believed she had no choice but to resign. The claimant submitted her resignation on January 17,1995.
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In this case, however, the record shows specific action on the part of the employer by words and actions that left the claimant with no other alternative but to leave her employment. The claimant has established that the conditions of her employment had become significantly unfavorable to the extent that she could no longer continue working. Therefore, it must be concluded that the claimant left her employment with good cause attributable to the employer. Accordingly, the claimant is entitled to job insurance benefits.
For Carlson, the Referee similarly determined reasonably:
The claimant quit her job after she became dissatisfied with the conditions of her employment. The claimant cited indifference on the part of her co-workers and supervisor, on-the-spot changes in duties, and exclusion from tasks she once was part of as reasons for leaving. The claimant’s supervisor was aware of the stressful conditions that involved the claimant, co-workers, and management through her own observations *408and numerous discussions with the claimant.
As conditions of employment worsened, the claimant and two co-workers sought relief by discussing their concerns with the director of the agency for which the claimant worked. The claimant requested that she be allowed to meet with her supervisor and the director. The director denied the claimant’s request under the premise that if the claimant’s concerns involved her coworkers, then the co-workers should also be included in the meeting. As a result, the claimant was not given the opportunity to meet with her supervisor as requested.
The conditions of employment worsened to the extent that in October 1994, a counsel- or from the Employee Assistance Program was called in by the employer to resolve the conflict among the claimant, co-workers, and management. During this same period, the claimant and two co-workers addressed their concerns to the head of the agency in accordance with what she believed was company policy. According to the claimant’s testimony, no relief was provided. The claimant was put on medication for symptoms of depression related to her work environment and advised by her physician to quit her employment. The claimant chose, however, to continue working for financial reasons and in the hope that conditions would improve.
The final incident occurred on January 11, 1995, during a staff meeting designed to resolve the conflicts present in the workplace. During this meeting, the program director revealed the names of the individuals who had addressed their concerns to the agency head; namely, the claimant and the two co-workers. As a result, the claimant was taunted with name calling by co-workers for taking her concerns to the agency head. The claimant realized that her employment conditions would not change and believed that she had no choice but to resign after the breach of confidentiality by the program director. She therefore, submitted her resignation on January 17, 1995.
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According to testimony taken at the hearing, the claimant has established that the conditions of her employment had become significantly unfavorable to the extent that she could no longer continue working. Therefore, it must be concluded that the claimant has established good cause for leaving. Accordingly, the claimant is entitled to job insurance benefits.
In my opinion, the findings and decisions by the Executive Director did not satisfactorily explain the reasons for deviating from the Referee’s findings, and unreasonably sought to shift the blame for the unfavorable employment conditions away from the Referee’s findings of supervisory indifference: “When the conditions of employment did not improve, ... ”; “the conditions of her employment had become significantly unfavorable to the extent that she could no longer continue working.” The Executive Director’s decisions virtually ignored the adverse effects on the health of these claimants.
As the majority in Carlson recognizes, we sometimes permit an agency head to replace a hearing officer’s findings and recommendations because “[w]e do not believe it is appropriate to probe [his] mental process in arriving at his decision.” Schultz v. North Dakota Dep’t of Human Servs., 372 N.W.2d 888, 892 (N.D.1985). However, we have specifically limited this deference: “The findings, conclusions, and decision should be sufficient to explain the rationale for not following the hearing officer’s recommendation.” Id.
The need for a satisfactory explanation from the agency head when different findings and a different decision have been made has often been stressed, but we have rarely identified a case that needed more explanation. See Medcenter One, Inc. v. Job Serv. North Dakota, 410 N.W.2d 521, 524 (N.D.1987) (“[W]here the agency has rejected a hearing officer’s decision, a necessary part of our inquiry is whether the agency’s decision satisfactorily explains the reason for not following the hearing officer’s recommendation.”); Redwood Village Partnership, Ltd. v. North Dakota Dep’t of Human Servs., 420 N.W.2d 333, 335-36 (N.D.1988) (same); Matter of Stone Creek Channel Improvements, 424 *409N.W.2d 894, 902 (N.D.1988) (same); Speedway, Inc. v. Job Serv. North Dakota, 454 N.W.2d 526, 527 (N.D.1990) (same); McCarter v. Pomeroy, 466 N.W.2d 562, 567 (N.D.1991) (same); Marion v. Job Serv. North Dakota, 470 N.W.2d 609, 613 (N.D.1991) (same); Hins v. Lucas Western, 484 N.W.2d 491, 494 (N.D.1992) (same); Kackman v. North Dakota Workers’ Compensation Bureau, 488 N.W.2d 623, 625 (N.D.1992) (same). See also Speedway, 454 N.W.2d at 530-31 (Pederson, S.J., dissenting) (“Although it might appear ... that in this state judicial deference is absolute, we have not always followed that practice.”); Allstate Ins. Co. v. Knutson, 278 N.W.2d 383 (N.D.1979); Hammond v. North Dakota State Personnel Bd., 345 N.W.2d 359, 365 (N.D.1984) (Pederson, J., concurring and dissenting) (“[W]hen the board is rejecting the hearing officer’s recommended decision, they must explain the grounds therefor.”).
Some other states accord much more credence to the hearing officer’s findings than our current formulation does. See Heifetz v. Department of Business Regulation, 475 So.2d 1277, 1281 (Fla.App.1985) (“The agency may not reject the hearing officer’s finding unless there is no competent, substantial evidence from which the finding could reasonably be inferred. The agency is not authorized to weigh the evidence presented, judge credibility of witnesses, or otherwise interpret the evidence to fit its desired ultimate conclusion.”); Brown v. Criminal Justice Standards & Training Comm’n, 667 So.2d 977 (Fla.App.1996) (commission improperly reweighed evidence). At least, as explained in 2 Am.Jur.2d Administrative Law § 374 (1994): “An agency must fully and particularly set out the facts and reasons for its departure from an initial decision.” by a hearing officer.
If we mean what we say, we should insist on explanation in these companion cases. The Executive Director should not have unbridled discretion to fabricate his own findings and reach an unreasoned decision. See National Sun Industries v. Ransom County, 474 N.W.2d 502 (N.D.1991) (without substantial evidence, board’s determination of value was arbitrary and unreasonable). In these cases, so far as I can see, the Executive Director did not really try to explain his divergent decisions.
One significant illustration should suffice. The Executive Director added this finding in Esselman’s case:
The employer did have a grievance procedure in place which could have been utilized by the claimant. However, instead of utilizing the grievance procedure, the claimant and the other two co-workers wrote a letter directly to the director of the agency with a copy to the Governor.
But the referenced grievance procedure was neither described in, nor made part of, the Esselman record. Carlson testified at Essel-man’s hearing that she had checked for one and believed they had followed it by going in turn to the three supervisory levels in their Center, and then writing to the head of then-agency. Esselman believed their joint letter to the head of their agency “was the next step,” and the Referee specifically found that she “was never made aware of any other grievance procedure.” We do not know the specific procedure the Executive Director felt Carlson and Esselman should have followed. The Executive Director’s fabricated finding is unsupported.
Similarly, in Carlson’s case, the Referee found that, eventually, “the claimant and two co-workers addressed their concerns to the head of the agency in accordance with what she believed was company policy,” but “no relief was provided,” and “claimant was put on medication for symptoms of depression related to her work environment and advised by her physician to quit her employment.” The Executive Director ignored those findings and, instead, similarly decided that the claimant failed to use a grievance procedure, but without an adequate record to demonstrate what it was that Carlson was supposed to have done. See Johnides v. St. Lawrence Hosp., 184 Mich.App. 172, 457 N.W.2d 123, 126 (1990) (claimant’s failure to use grievance procedure not “dispositive on the issue of good cause”).
In my opinion, the findings of fact made by the agency in these two cases are not reasonably supported by the evidence, NDCC 28-32-19(5), the substituted findings and conclu*410sions did not afford Carlson and Esselman fair hearings, id. at (4), and the agency orders denying benefits are not in accordance with the law. Id. at (1). Therefore, I would reverse Job Service’s denial of benefits in each case, and thus reverse the district court in Esselman and affirm the district court in Carlson. I respectfully dissent in both cases.

. Esselman argued in her appellate brief:
[Job Service] on review did not consider all reasons which may have combined or separately, given Michelle good cause to quit her employment. [Job Service] incorrectly applied the medical quit exception and denied Michelle benefits. Michelle was not given a fair decision based on the facts and evidence of the case, nor was she given a decision based on the pertinent law at hand.
The medical exception to N.D.Cent.Code § 52-06-02 (Supp.1995) does not apply here because Michelle voluntarily quit her employment with good cause attributable to the employer. Michelle was affected to the extent that it caused stress daily. App. 15. Stress-related headaches, stomach problems and sleeping problems became more frequent. App. 15. These health problems were directly related to the stress with her employment and are attributable to her employer and must be considered by [Job Service] as a reason for quitting.