Court Opinion

ID: 9460533
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 21:53:33.043208+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:36:40.229674
License: Public Domain

WIDENER, Circuit Judge
(concurring) :
I concur in the result.
The district court, in its written opinion, stated correctly the rule to be applied here, but failed to properly apply it:
“The general rule has been that a layoff amounts to termination where it is intended as a permanent dissolution of the employer-employee relationship. However, where a layoff is intended as mere temporary interruption from work, it does not constitute termination of employment.”
Since the contract itself provides for layoffs and recalls by seniority, and retention of seniority during layoff status, in some instances for as much as two years, the employee was, in fact, recalled to his job, obviously under the terms of the contract; the disability plan itself contains no disqualification on account of layoff as it easily could have; and the employee had not accepted other work or indicated in any way his intention to sever the employment relationship with his employer; I think, at the time he suffered his disability, he was “an employee within the coverage of this plan” under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, of which the plan must be considered a part. Thus, I would allow the employee to recover under ordinary principles of contract law and not be required to go beyond the four corners of the contract and its included disability plan.
I do not consider that F.R.Civ.P. 52(a) concerning findings of fact has any application to this case, one way or the other. Had the district judge based a finding of permanent termination of employment on credible oral testimony, I probably would have voted to affirm. There was no factual finding by the district judge based on anything other than writings which are before us, and such parts of the opinion below as may allude to facts are in reality nothing more than the giving of emphasis to certain parts of the contract and recitals of admitted events.