TRANSLATION
IN THE MATTER of the EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT
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IN THE MATTER of a claim for benefit by
WILFRED CYR
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IN THE MATTER of an appeal to an Umpire by the claimant from the decision
of a Board of Referees given on October 25, 2001
at Bathurst, New Brunswick.
The Honourable R.J. Marin
[1] This appeal was heard at Bathurst on September 13, 2002.
[2] The claimant is appealing from a ruling given by a Board of Referees confirming his indefinite disqualification, imposed pursuant to sections 29 and 30 of the Employment Insurance Act, for leaving his employment without just cause.
[3] The Board of Referees signally failed to exercise its responsibilities. The claimant's version of the facts has been consistent. After three years at the same plant, he had a well-founded fear for his safety and health at the worksite. This is one of the grounds for leaving employment listed in section 29.
[4] The second question to be settled is whether departure was the sole reasonable alternative.
[5] The Board disregarded the facts and rendered a totally unwarranted decision. It ignored Exhibit 8-1 in the appeal docket, which relates to a possible contamination of drinking water. The Board ignored all other warnings, casually concluding that the claimant had failed to demonstrate that he had been justified in leaving and saying nothing about any of the evidence on file that might have provided justification.
[6] For these reasons, I turn the entire case over to a differently constituted Board and order the flawed decision expunged from the Commission's records.
[7] The claimant's appeal is allowed, and the case is referred to a differently constituted Board of Referees for decision.
R.J. MARIN
UMPIRE
OTTAWA, Ontario
October 28, 2002