In the Matter of the Employment Insurance Act,
S.C. 1996, c. 23
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In the Matter of a claim for unemployment benefits by
Trudy Curatolo
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In the Matter of an Appeal by the Claimant from the decision
of a Board of Referees given at Edmonton, Alberta
on March 1, 2001
Appeal heard at Edmonton, Alberta on June 17, 2002
R. C. STEVENSON UMPIRE:
Ms. Curatolo appeals from the decision of a Board of Referees dismissing her appeal from a ruling by the Commission that she was disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits because she had voluntarily left her employment without just cause.
The Commission, after considering the material Ms. Curatolo submitted in support of her appeal to the Board of Referees, was satisfied that she had had just cause. The appeal was pending, however, and the employer was entitled to be heard as it in fact was.
The record makes it clear that stress caused by a number of employment related problems led Ms. Curatolo to resign her position. The Board of Referees said she had not provided medical evidence to support her claim of stress. That finding was made without regard for the material before the Board, specifically exhibit 10.49, a letter from Ms. Curatolo's physician confirming that she had been suffering from stress.
The Board of Referees also found that the claimant left her job because of her money concerns "as shown on exhibit 8-1." Exhibit 8-1 is the first page of the Commission's representations to the Board of Referees. I cannot find any reference to money concerns anywhere in those representations or elsewhere in the record. That finding was made in a perverse or capricious manner.
The Board's decision being based on erroneous findings of fact made in a perverse or capricious manner and without regard to the material before it, the appeal must be allowed. I will give the decision the Board of Referees should have given.
Having regard to all the circumstances, and particularly to the evidence of the stress Ms. Curatolo was under because of situations in the workplace, I find that she had just cause to voluntarily leave her employment.
The appeal is allowed and the disqualification is set aside.
Ronald C. Stevenson
Umpire
FREDERICTON, NEW BRUNSWICK
July 29, 2002