IN THE MATTER of the Employment Insurance Act
- and -
IN THE MATTER of a claim for benefit by
HARRY GLOWA
- and -
IN THE MATTER of an appeal to the Umpire by the claimant
from a decision of the Board of Referees, given at
Barrie, Ontario, on September 15, 1997
DECISION
THE HONOURABLE A.H. HOLLINGWORTH, Q.C.
This matter is one that comes before me as a result of a request by the claimant to have a written judgment on the record rather than an oral hearing. My judgment follows.
The claimant was a factory worker for Mobile Materials Ltd. in Mississauga, Ontario and worked there for approximately 10 years. He had reached the age of 63 and decided to purchase a house in Barrie, Ontario. He quit his job on June 13, 1997. There is no doubt whatsoever that the reason he quit his job was because he had purchased the house in Barrie and found, as he put it, that the distance for commuting was too great. The jurisprudence is clear that commuting the distance to one's job, even one hour's commuting time, is not a reason to quit a job.
The claimant in Exhibit 5 indicated that it was too difficult for him to commute. Later, in Exhibit 9-3, the claimant brought up the question of his medical health and that he had a prostate condition and stated that he decided to quit his job and relocate in Barrie. The Board, which handed its decision down on September 15, indicated in its judgment at Exhibit 8-2 that the doctor who advised the claimant, and the claimant produced a letter dated September 22, being Exhibit 9-4, did not indicate to the claimant that he would have to stop his job to attend to his medical condition. I believe the Board was correct in concluding that the claimant really quit his job because he didn't want to commute to Barrie.
The claimant's letter, found in Exhibit 5, also stated "I am searching for a job." This was dated August l5, 1997, which indicates clearly that he had not searched for a job in Barrie prior to quitting his job on June 13, 1997.
The leading case in this field is the case of Tanguay, A-1458-84, where the Court said:
"... I would say that an employee who has voluntarily left his employment and has not found another has deliberately placed himself in a situation which enables him to compel third parties to pay him unemployment insurance benefits. He is only justified in acting this way if, at the time he left, circumstances existed which excused him from thus taking the risk of causing others to bear the burden of his unemployment."
Then, Strayer, J. in CUB l8995, said this:
"... The test of whether one voluntarily leaves a job "without just cause" is essentially that of whether a reasonably prudent person would have done so in the circumstances. It has been held many times that a reasonably prudent person does not leave one job without finding another one unless circumstances at the existing job are impossible, intolerable, or dangerous."
I do not find that Mr. Glowa was in a position in which his job was "impossible, intolerable or dangerous".
Finally, Reed, J. in Charles Smith, CUB 23302 stated:
"A prudent person when dissatisfied with a job situation will find employment elsewhere before quitting."
There is no evidence that Mr. Glowa searched for work in the Barrie area prior to quitting his job.
I wish to deal further with Mr. Glowa's letter of September 23, being Exhibit 9-3.
The jurisprudence holds very clearly that one must produce a letter from a physician if he is pleading that he quit his job for health reasons which specifically indicate that the physician counselled him to quit his job because of health reasons. A careful examination of Mr. Glowa's doctor's letter of September 22, 1997 indicates that he was treating Mr. Glowa for prostate problems but it did not direct him that he to quit his job.
In view of all the above, the Board has not transgressed the Employment Insurance Act in quoting as it did, and the jurisprudence amply shows that the Commission was correct in denying Mr. Glowa Employment Insurance benefits in this case.
The appeal is therefore dismissed.
HOLLINGWORTH
Umpire
TORONTO, Ontario
June 30, 1998