Court Opinion

ID: 9531329
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:09:52.692253+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:25.013177
License: Public Domain

Wright, J.
This case involves the eligibility of appellant for unemployment benefits when he quit his temporary job *551in Richland and moved to Olympia to join his wife who had recently secured permanent employment with the State of Washington. The issue for determination is whether there were sufficient compelling personal reasons to constitute “good cause” for appellant to quit his job. We answer in the affirmative and reverse the decision of the trial court.
In March 1972, appellant (Ayers) was discharged from the United States Air Force. He obtained seasonal employment with the C & M Landscaping Company in Richland. Mrs. Ayers was unable to find work in the Richland area and moved to Olympia where she obtained employment with the State of Washington as a clerk-typist II. Mr. Ayers’ job with C & M Landscaping Company was seasonal and he would be laid off when the work season closed. He decided to quit early and move to Olympia to be with his wife. Because the distance between the Tri-Cities area and Olympia was about 250 miles, Mr. Ayers and his wife felt that they could neither afford to maintain two separate homes, nor to commute on a weekly basis; and they desired to keep their family together and maintain the marriage relationship. Unable to obtain employment in the Olympia area after looking, Mr. Ayers applied for unemployment benefits from the Department of Employment Security. Although Mr. Ayers’ application indicated that his wife would be the primary support of the family, and that he planned to attend Centralia Junior College beginning on June 19, 1972, Mr. Ayers stated that he was, in fact, looking for full-time employment in the Olympia area and would not attend the college if he were able to find full-time employment. The matter of Mr. Ayers’ desire to attend college was not given as a reason for his disqualification, it is not an issue in this litigation, and will not be considered further.
The Employment Security Department determined appellant ineligible for benefits. Appeal was made to a hearing tribunal which affirmed the decision. The commissioner affirmed the decision of the appeal tribunal finding that there was no compelling personal reason for petitioner to quit his job and that there was no factual data to show that *552there would be destruction of the normal family relationship. The decision of the department was affirmed by the Superior Court and the matter was appealed to the Court of Appeals. The case was transferred to the Supreme Court.
RCW 50.20.050 disqualifies an individual from receiving unemployment benefits for up to 10 weeks if the applicant is determined to have “left work voluntarily without good cause.” Although the statute does not specifically define “good cause” in any manner that is helpful in this situation, there is substantial help to be found in In re Bale, 63 Wn.2d 83, 385 P.2d 545 (1963). Therein the court speaking through Hunter, J. said in part at page 90: “[W]e hold ‘good cause’ for termination of employment, under the statute, may include compelling personal reasons.” Further, in the same opinion, the court said at page 91: “The claimant in the instant case, having terminated her employment because of compelling personal reasons, did so with ‘good cause’ under RCW 50.20.050.”
This case does not require any consideration of domicile, or of who shall select the domicile. For that reason we shall refrain from any discussion of domicile.
RCW 50.01.010, the preamble to Title 50, indicates that the purpose of the system of unemployment compensation is to relieve “economic insecurity” and to protect “against this greatest hazard of our economic life.” The said section also provides for a liberal construction of Title 50.
Many factors may enter into the decision of a family as to where they shall live and work. It is often a substantial factor to be considered that it is desirable for numerous reasons to keep the family together. If employment for the husband and for the wife are not available in the same area, it is a compelling personal reason and, therefore, good cause for one of the spouses to leave employment and go to the place of employment of the other spouse in order to keep the family together. The decision as to which place of employment should be accepted must not be governed by any arbitrary rule, but should be decided upon a *553consideration of all relevant factors. It is generally a decision which the spouses should make for themselves, subject to the need to make a reasonable decision.
In the present case the decision was reasonable. To have retained the husband’s temporary employment for the short time such employment would have been available and thus to have foregone the opportunity for the wife to accept permanent employment, would have been unreasonable. Such a choice would very probably have resulted in two unemployed spouses rather than one.
We reverse the decision of the Superior Court and of the department, and remand the matter to the Employment Security Department for further proceedings consistent herewith.
Stafford, C.J., Finley, Rosellini, and Hunter, JJ., and Rummel, J. Pro Tern., concur.