Opinion
November 30, 1970
Appeal by the claimant from a decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board holding him ineligible for benefits effective January 13, 1969 on the ground that he did not file a valid original claim in that he did not have at least 20 weeks of employment in his base period. Claimant, a 23-year-old full-time day university student majoring in industrial psychology, was employed five nights a week from 6:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M. or 7:00 P.M. to 3:00 A.M. as a clerk for the employer stock brokers from July 30, 1968 to January 13, 1969. The board found that under subdivision 9 of section 511 Lab. of the Labor Law claimant's work did not qualify as "employment" within the meaning of the Labor Law since claimant's primary interest was to complete his education and his employment was thus subordinate to his schooling. Clearly claimant as a student was not ipso facto a "part-time worker" ( Matter of Renee [ Corsi], 293 N.Y. 501, 504). However, we find no basis on the instant record to disturb the board's factual determination that claimant's primary interest was completing his education and his employment was subordinate to or merely a means of achieving this end (e.g., Matter of Bogdanowicz [ Catherwood], 9 A.D.2d 841; Matter of Augustine [ Catherwood], 9 A.D.2d 837). Nor do we find present any violation of claimant's rights under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. The Legislature could properly and reasonably distinguish between part-time workers who attend school in the daytime and whose employment is subordinate to their primary purpose of furthering their education and other workers for whom earning a livelihood through employment is a primary consideration. Decision affirmed, without costs. Herlihy, P.J., Reynolds, Staley, Jr., Greenblott and Cooke, JJ., concur.