Zielinski v Bay City Public Schools
Digest No. 13.05
Cite as: Zielinski v Bay City Public Schools, unpublished opinion of the State of Michigan Employment Security Board of Review, issued October 30, 1980 (Docket No.: B79-00344- 66220).
Court: State of Michigan Employment Security Board of Review Appeal
Pending: No
Claimant: Karen Zielinski
Employer: Bay City Public Schools
Date of decision: October 30, 1980
HOLDING: The statute does not require that the offer of work be full time, only that it be suitable work. Therefore, the work offered need not be full time but may be part time work if the claimant had previously done that same type of work in a part time category.
FACTS: The claimant was certified by the State of Michigan as an elementary school teacher, and offered the job by the employer. The claimant refused based on pay differential and the fact that the job offered was not full time. The claimant had performed the same type of work a couple years for the same employer before she refused the part-time job offer from the employer in this case. The claimant filed an appeal from a redetermination issued by the Commission which held the claimant disqualified for benefits under Section 29(l)(e) of the Act, because claimant failed without good cause to accept suitable work.
DECISION: The Employment Security Board of Review affirmed the decision of the referee and refused the application for rehearing.
RATIONALE: The referee found that if she had accepted to work part-time previously, she could not be heard later to argue that she should not have to accept the job because it was not full-time work. It did not matter that later the part time work that she accepted previously should become full time work because of the length of time that the claimant had worked. It would be similarly so should she have accepted this position. It might have blossomed into full time tenured teacher work if she had performed her work for fifty or more days. The claimant was guaranteed at least six week’s work at the time of the job offer, which was deemed to be suitable work.
Digest author: Toni Suh, Michigan Law, Class of 2020
Digest updated: January 28, 2021