Opinion
No. CV 05 4002700S
October 4, 2006
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION
This is an appeal from a decision of the employment security board of review (board) affirming the denial of the plaintiff's application for unemployment benefits. For the reasons stated, the appeal must be dismissed.
The plaintiff, Aldina Zullo, applied for unemployment benefits after separation from her employment as a hairdresser. The administrator determined that she was eligible. The employer, En Avant LLC, appealed to the appeals referee who conducted a de novo hearing, made findings and reversed the administrator's decision, finding the plaintiff ineligible for benefits. The appeals referee determined that the plaintiff "left suitable work voluntarily without good cause attributable to the employee," which disqualifies her from receiving unemployment benefits under C.G.S. § 31-236(a)(2)(A). The plaintiff appealed to the board which adopted the factual findings of the referee, added some findings of its own, and affirmed the referee's decision dismissing the plaintiff's appeal. The plaintiff has now appealed to this court.
The plaintiff states that her appeal is based upon the board's adoption of the referee's findings of fact and application of the law. With respect to the findings of fact, the plaintiff alleges that they are not supported by the evidence in the record. But, the plaintiff never filed a motion to correct the factual findings of the board. Therefore, the plaintiff is unable to challenge the findings of the board on appeal; the court may not even review the evidence in the record. J.S.F. Promotions, Inc. v. Administrator, 265 Conn. 413, 422-23 (2003); Chavez v. Administrator, Unemployment Compensation Act, 44 Conn.App. 105 (1997); Calnan v. Administrator, Unemployment Compensation Act, 43 Conn.App. 779 (1996). Here, the plaintiff failed to file a motion for correction of the board's findings, a necessary prerequisite to a challenge to the board's decision. For this reason, the plaintiff's challenge to the board's adoption of the factual findings of the referee must be rejected.
"Practice Book Sec. 515A provides the mechanism for the correction of the board's findings. If the appellant desires that the findings be corrected, the appellant must, within two weeks of the filing of the record in the Superior Court, file with the board a motion for correction of the findings." Calnan v. Administrator, Unemployment Compensation Act, 43 Conn.App. 779, 784 (1996).
Next, the plaintiff challenges the board's application of the law. "If, however, the issue is one of law, the court has the broader responsibility of determining whether the administrative action resulted from an incorrect application of the law to the facts found or could not reasonably have followed from such facts. Although the court may not substitute its own conclusions for those of the administrative board, it retains the ultimate obligation to determine whether the administrative action was unreasonable, arbitrary, illegal or an abuse of discretion." (Citations omitted.) United Parcel Service, Inc. v. Administrator, Unemployment Compensation Act, 209 Conn. 381 (1988). The plaintiff's argument in this regard is that there was no evidence to support the facts found by the board. Here, the plaintiff is saying that is unreasonable, arbitrary, illegal or an abuse of discretion for the board to have made findings of facts on which there was no evidence. "While the limits on a court function in reviewing decisions of the board are well recognized, the failure of a claimant to file a motion to correct has not been considered fatal to the court's ability to review a decision to determine whether the board acted unreasonably, or arbitrarily. What could be more unreasonable or arbitrary than a decision to deny unemployment compensation based on a conclusion which has no support at all in the record upon which it purports to be based?" Crenshaw v. Administrator, Unemployment Compensation Act, Superior Court, judicial district of New Britain, Docket No. 99-0498448 (April 13, 2000) ( 27 Conn. L. Rptr. 80).
I have carefully reviewed the record upon which the board relied. The issues were hotly contested and the court might not necessarily agree with the conclusions reached. But, there is evidence in the record to support all of the findings of the board. Also, based upon the findings and a review of the entire record, I cannot say that the board's conclusion is arbitrary, unreasonable, illegal or an abuse of discretion. There is support in the record for its conclusion that the plaintiff voluntarily left her employment without good cause attributable to her employer or, in the alternative, that the plaintiff's failure to comply with the employer's directive constituted wilful misconduct in the course of her employment. The appeal is dismissed.