Court Opinion

ID: 9936506
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 18:58:11.78146+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:31:47.884144
License: Public Domain

I respectfully dissent.
I would reverse the decision to award claimant unemployment compensation benefits for the reason that she had not made herself available for work.
As noted by the majority, a claimant, in order to receive benefits, must demonstrate that he or she has in good faith made a reasonable effort to obtain employment that he or she has the qualifications to perform due to past experience or training. State Department of Industrial Relations v.Singleton, 364 So.2d 325 (Ala.Civ.App. 1978).
The evidence shows that in the present case claimant sought work as a salesperson in a clothing store, as a cashier in a grocery *Page 738 
store, and in the cleaning service department of a hospital. She did not seek employment in any of the dry cleaning establishments in her area, although there were approximately eighty of them within a reasonable distance of her home.
Claimant's last employment was in a dry cleaning establishment, where she was a silk presser. She had been continuously employed in a dry cleaning business for the past nine and one-half to ten years. Claimant stated when she left her employment that she was tired of the dry cleaning business and wanted employment in some other area.
Although claimant sought employment at department stores, grocery stores, and hospitals, she readily admitted that she had no work experience in these fields. However, in the field in which she did have experience and training, i.e. dry cleaning work, claimant refused to seek work because she was tired of working in dry cleaning establishments.
In my opinion claimant did not make herself available for work because she did not seek employment in a field in which she was qualified, i.e. as a presser in a dry cleaning business, State, Department of Industrial Relations v. Harbin,365 So.2d 313 (Ala.Civ.App. 1978), nor did she in good faith seek employment of a character she was qualified to perform.Polk v. State, Department of Industrial Relations,413 So.2d 1164 (Ala.Civ.App. 1982).
I do not believe the legislature intended that a person receive benefits while looking for work outside the area of her experience and qualifications just because she is tired of the job she had been doing for nine or ten years and wants to try something new.