Administrative Decisions

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Decisions issued by an administrative agency, administrative law judge, or administrative council.

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BOR 118676 (2011)

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant who knew she would soon be without health insurance when divorce became final, left her job (16-24 hours per week) for new part-time permanent job that offered more hours (24-32 hours per week) and health benefits. This new job was eliminated because of budget cuts, and her original…

BR-118870 BOR Decision - Deliberate Misconduct - Mitigating Circumstances

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant found not disqualified from receiving UC benefits. Claimant left work without notifying supervisor. Claimant's failure to notify supervisor prior to leaving work was mitigated by fact that claimant was bi-polar and medications were not working and that claimant left work after…

BOR 115501

BOR (Board of Review)
BOR ruled that client did not refuse suitable employment when the employer who had laid her off in December 2008 recalled her to work in April 2009.  The client had already applied for and been approved for Section 30 benefits, but her training program did not start until May 2009.  The…

BR 114117

Board of Review
 Board ruled that WIA-approved training course that had not already been approved by the DUA TOPS Unitwas an approved program for Section 30 purposes, applying 430 CMR 9.05(2)(e).Advocate:  Laura Edwards, MetroWest Legal Services 

BR-113018

BOR (Board of Review)
The Board of Review found that the claimant, whose request for a hearing was due the day after Thanksgiving, had good cause to file her appeal beyond the ten-day appeal period due to her mistaken belief that the DUA offices were closed the day after Thanksgiving. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal…

BOR 118451

BOR (Board of Review)
BOR Decision reversing Review Examiner's denial of UI for having left work voluntarily after disputes with supervisors over suspension and disciplinary proceedings.  The Board concluded that the claimant was being treated unreasonably by the employer, had good cause for leaving work and was…

BR-116265

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that the claimant, who quit her job and relocated to a warmer climate in order to alleviate chronic pain associated with osteoarthritis, did so for urgent, compelling, and necessitous reasons.   Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services

BOR 116265

BOR (Board of Review)
Board Decision reversing Review Examiner decision that claimant left work voluntarily when she quite her job to relocate to North Carolina.  Citing evidence of claimant's osteoarthritis and aggravating effects of cold weather on her condition, the Board concluded that she had left work for…

BR-110354

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant who was discharged after failing drug test found that employer did not meet burden of proving deliberate misconduct. No evidence that drug testing was conducted in accordance with accepted standards. Also policy prohibited being under influence in workplace and employer did not meet burden…

BR-116407-A (May 20, 2011)

BOR (Board of Review)
Where a claimant was required to undergo an unpaid drug test in violation of wage-and-hour laws, the Board found good cause to quit.

BR-117158

BOR (Board of Review)
The claimant was found to have good cause attributable to the employer for leaving when his full time job was cut to four shifts, and then to three after inquiring into why his hours were cut, and there was no evidence that the reduction in hours was temporary. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal…

BR-117158 (May 9, 2011)

BOR (Board of Review)
The Board found a drastic decrease in the number of work hours assigned to a claimant to be good cause to quit.

BR-117158

BOR (Board of Review)
Reversing Hearing Officer, Board allowed UI to claimant who quit job after employer unilaterally reduced his hours.

BR-116510

BOR (Board of Review)
In a case where the claimant had taken a leave of absence rather than quit his job which had little to no work available, and was subsequently laid off from a job where he had found more suitable, full time work, the Board of Review found that the claimant had constructively resigned from his first…

BR-116510

Board of Review
Leave of absence taken by Employee only to preserve his seniority rights was a "leave of absence in name only" and did not render the employee ineligible for UI.   Advocate:  Peter Benjamin, Benjamin & Bers, Springfield

BR-110099

BOR (Board of Review)
The Board of Review found that the claimant, who suffered from alcoholism and was terminated for losing her driver's license through an OUI, a requisite for her job, did not act willfully.  Note: This case is now on appeal by DUA to the District Court.First Board of Review decision received…

BR-114384

BOR (Board of Review)
The claimant, who worked at a childcare center, was not disqualified from receiving UI after committing a third feeding violation warranting termination under the center's policy, because a mistake does not constitute intentional disregard. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services

BR 113515

BOR (Board of Review)
Here are two cases in which erroneous decisions (one by DUA in which the BOR denied review (Waters), and one in which the Board denied benefits, reversing a correct DUA decision (Regalado) were reversed by agreement of the parties in District Court. Memoranda of law in both cases are attached…

BR-112947-CTRM

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that a substantial decline in claimant's wages was good cause for leaving employment attributable to the employer and that the claimant's asking the general manager for more hours before quitting comprised an adequate effort to preserve his job. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal…

BR-110099

BOR (Board of Review)
First Board of Review decision received by a legal services organization since the Board asked for opinions on its alcoholism policy in late 2010.  Decision reaffirms policy under Shepherd case - claimant's alcoholism mitigates the wilfulness of the misconduct for which she was fired.…

BR-109252

BOR (Board of Review)
The Board rejected as unreliable a drug test that did not include a split urine sample (to ensure against contamination).  The Board found that in cases involving a random drug test, where the only evidence of the illegal drug was the positive test, the employer did not satisfy its burden…

BR-109252-A

BOR (Board of Review)
In the absence of other evidence of illegal drug use, the employer does not satisfy its burden of proving misconduct or a violation of its drug policy unless the drug test comports with federal government standards.  Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services 

BR-111428

Board of Review (BOR)
The Board of Review has held that a claimant was in “total unemployment” under G.L. c. 151A, § 1(4) when he was between tours of duty on the employer’s merchant marine vessel.

BR-115564

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that the employer's changes to the claimant's remuneration, hours, and working conditions made the job unsuitable and that the claimant had no duty to try to preserve unsuitable employment. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services

BR-115564

BOR (Board of Review)
Issue on appeal was whether the claimant resigned from her job because the wages, hours and working conditions rendered the job unsuitable.  The BOR found that because the employee's shift and rate of pay were not what she was originally promised during her job interview. the job was…

BR-112431

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant's inability to perform job duties of prior employment because of injury did not prevent claimant from being available for other forms of work.  Claimant's departure from work under circumstances of injury was an involuntary separation, not an involuntary leave of absence (which…

BR-112431-EB-OP

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that the claimant, who left work as a result of an injury but planned to return after undergoing a surgery, was not on an implied sick leave since she did not actually undergo the surgery and quit without notifying the employer. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services

BR-112730

BOR (Board of Review)
The claimant was not disqualified from receiving UI because the employer's alcohol policy did not provide notice to the claimant that failing an alcohol test would subject him to termination.The Board found that the claimant was initially given a disciplinary suspension for failing a random…

BR 114970

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant who was homeless and without telephone presented sufficient evidence that she was actively searching for work.Advocate: Monica Halas, GBLS. 

BR-113575

BOR (Board of Review)
The employer failed to establish that a policy prohibiting employees from reporting to work with "any amount" of alcohol or illegal drugs in the employee's system was reasonable, where the record contained no evidence indicating that the claimant's off-duty use affected the…

BR-115277

BOR (Board of Review)
The claimant was allowed to commence her approved training program after the expiration of her benefit year because G.L. c. 151A, § 30(c) does not contain any reference to a benefit-year-ending date deadline. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services

BR-110292

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that the claimant, who was a non-citizen, was authorized to work during his alternate base period as a permanent resident under color of law (PRUCOL) and was able and available for work during the benefit year because the USCIS bestowed work authorization retroactively by granting…

DHCD Tenant Selection Adjudicatory Hearing Decision Index, Volume 28

DHCD
Includes all decisions made between May 21, 2010 and November 22, 2010.

BR-115740

BOR (Board of Review)
The claimant was allowed to file for training benefits after the end of his benefit year because G.L. c. 151A, § 30(c) does not impose a benefit-year-ending date deadline and the recession had triggered extended federal benefits, thereby tolling the deadline for filing training applications…

BSEA # 11-1115 Uxbridge Public Schools

William Crane Hearing Officer
The student is a six year old boy with PDD-NOS (on the autism spectrum) who has trouble with language pragmatics, social skills and some aggressive behaviors. He started kindergarten with an IEP; then the school told parents he had met all of his goals and was no longer eligible for services. …

BR-114436-A

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that the claimant, who was not able to return from an approved leave of absence in Morocco because he required medical treatment for his dental pain, left work for urgent, compelling and necessitous reasons, even though the claimant may have been able to prevent the separation by providing…

BR-110509

BOR (Board of Review)
This case involves when an employee has the right to quit a job based on unsafe work conditions. In her original decision--the claimant was pro se at first hearing--the Review Examiner found that the claimant was correct to refuse to do work which involved scooping raw sewage with no protective…

BR-110509

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that the claimant, who refused to sign a warning issued by the employer for failure to empty a drum of raw sewage without a respirator, had good cause attributable to the employer for resignation, since the employer did not allow the claimant an opportunity to lodge a complaint or address…

BR-111513

BOR (Board of Review)
The claimant was not disqualified from receiving UI for the week that she was in a domestic violence center since she indicated a desire to work within a reasonable time after entering the shelter, citing SRH § 1043C. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services

BR-112807

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that the employer, who fired the claimant for cursing at her supervisor, did not prove that the claimant's misconduct was deliberate in light of mitigating circumstances of the supervisor's offensive behavior. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services

DHCD Tenant Selection Adjudicatory Hearing Decision Index, Volume 27

DHCD
Includes all decisions made between November 17, 2009 and May 21, 2010.

09-0139 Lexington Public Schools

Rosa Figueroa, Hearing Officer
Parent requested a combined high school/college program with a tutor and other supports for her 17 year old son with Aspergers. Lexington proposed Pathways as the appropriate placement.  The HO agreed with Lexington that student required a therapeutic placement with same age peers and language…

BR-110763 (3/28/2010)

BOR (Board of Review)
Decision suggesting either an indefinite or a permanent reduction in hours qualifies as good cause. The Board determined that when an employer unilaterally reduced the claimant’s hours by half, creating a “drastic change in the conditions of the claimant’s employment,” the…

BOR 109099

BOR (Board of Review)
The employer's rules prohibited reporting for work with an "illegal drug in the employee's system, in any amount." The claimant smoked marijuana on a day off and was discharged for testing positive for marijuana on a urinalysis administered at work the following day. She was the only known violator…

BR-109710

BOR (Board of Review)
The claimant was not disqualified from receiving UI because the employer failed to prove that the claimant had control of his alcoholism or that he deliberately or willfully refused to accept help in controlling it.   Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services

BR-111185 -- Rights of Temporary Workers -- Unsuitable Work

BOR (Board of Review)
The attached Board of Review decision addresses the rights of a worker of a temporary agency to deny a new offer by a temporary agency if the work is unsuitable. The claimant accepted a temporary position from Professional Staffing Group and worked as a "temp" at a placement for approximately 2…

BR-111185

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that a temporary employee, whose first assignment for a staffing agency lasted one and a half years at $10/hour, had good cause for declining a six-week placement at $9/hour since the claimant had a work history of positions with long tenures and higher rates of compensation. Advocate:…

BSEA 10-1237 Ruling on Request for Clarification of Legal Standard

William Crane Hearing Officer
Ruling on request for clarification of FAPE and eligibility for specific services from parents and the town of Shrewsbury concerning a six year old boy.  The H.O. summarized, "As applied to the instant dispute, ...there is no requirement that Shrewsbury provide occupational or physical…

BR-109541

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant was arrested on rape charges on the day that he was supposed to return to work from medical leave. He remained incarcerated for 12 days until his wife was able to raise sufficient money for his bail. The Board upheld R/E's ruling that his separation was voluntary. The Board did not do an…

BR-109814

BOR (Board of Review)
Board reversed R/E decision that client left job voluntarily.  Board ruled that client quit under the reasonable belief that he was going to be fired. The client had performance issues because of the many stressors going on in his private life and had been warned in the past. The HR rep…