CUB 70451

R. C. STEVENSON, UMPIRE:

The claimant voluntarily left his employment with a gas company on December 17, 2006. On December 29 he applied for sickness benefits and his claim was approved as of December 17. However, on January 31, 2007 the Commission informed him that once he had received all his sickness benefits, i.e. the maximum allowed under the Employment Insurance Act, it would not pay him regular benefits because he had voluntarily left his employment without just cause.

The claimant appealed to the Board of Referees which dismissed his appeal and he now appeals to the Umpire.

In his application for benefits the claimant said he quit because he "was sick with serious cold because he had to walk to work." He said work conditions compromised his health because "washing toilets outside when it was really cold outside in Nov, Dec I would have to stop." Although he said on his application that his doctor advised him to leave the job he has never provided any evidence from a doctor to that effect despite a number of adjournments granted by the Board of Referees to enable him to do so.

Notwithstanding that, there is evidence that the claimant had been in hospital in November 2006 and he was seen by a doctor on December 20.

The employer said the claimant quit when he learned his pay was subject to garnishment.

It is obvious from the many exhibits in the record and from the claimant's oral representation at the hearing of this appeal that he has multiple medical problems some of which are disabling.

The Board of Referees placed great emphasis on the claimant's failure to produce medical evidence as to his health reasons when he quit. The Board cited CUB 41453 which includes this statement:

"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."

That is not an inflexible rule. In CUB 14805 Justice Reed said:

"In CUB 5612, it is clear, the Umpire did not believe the claimant's contention that he had a health problem which was aggravated or caused by the work place situation. The decision stands for the proposition that in the facts and circumstances of that case a reasonable person would have obtained a medical certificate before leaving, to substantiate his contention. But, that does not mean that, in every case, there must be a medical certificate in order to find just cause for leaving. The presence or absence of a medical certificate is a question of evidence. If one exists, the evidence supporting the claimant's position may be stronger than otherwise. But, even in the absence of a medical certificate, it is still open to a Board to find that a person had just cause, on the basis of health, for leaving employment."

And in CUB 65097 Umpire Marin said:

"the absence of a medical certificate should not of itself exclude medical reasons, a just cause to leave employment."

The Board of Referees erred in law when it held that one who says he quit an employment for health reasons must produce a letter from a physician.

There is ample evidence in the record that the claimant is ill and that he received medical treatment both shortly before and shortly after he left his job. The Commission accepted that he was entitled to sickness benefits from the date he quit.

I see no need to refer the matter back for re-hearing. I will give the decision the Board of Referees should have given. I find that the claimant's multiple health problems gave him just cause to voluntarily leave his employment.

The appeal is allowed and the disqualification is set aside.

Ronald C. Stevenson

UMPIRE

FREDERICTON, NEW BRUNSWICK
May 6, 2008