BEFORE THE

STATE OF WISCONSIN
LABOR AND INDUSTRY REVIEW COMMISSION

In the matter of the unemployment benefit claim of

TERRY L. MOORE, Employee

Involving the account of

MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOL, Employer

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DECISION
Hearing No. 89-601947


Pursuant to the timely petition for review filed in the above-captioned matter, the Commission has considered the petition and all relief requested. The Commission has reviewed the applicable records and evidence and finds that the Appeal Tribunal's findings of fact and conclusions of law are supported thereby. The Commission therefore adopts the findings and conclusions of the Appeal Tribunal as its own.

DECISION

The decision of the Appeal Tribunal is affirmed. Accordingly, the employe is eligible for benefits, if he is otherwise qualified.

Dated and mailed October 3, 1989
110 - CD1004  AA 130  VL 1007.01 VL 1054.01 

/s/ Kevin C. Potter, Chairman

/s/ Carle W. Thompson, Commissioner

Pamela I. Anderson, Commissioner


MEMORANDUM OPINION

In its petition for Commission review, the employer concedes that the employe was not terminated for misconduct connected with his employment. However, it argues that the employe voluntarily terminated his employment, within the meaning of section 108.04 (7), Stats., when he failed to obtain the teaching license that was necessary for him to perform his job. The Commission disagrees.

Had the employe made no effort to obtain the teaching license, a finding of constructive voluntary termination might be appropriate. However, the employe in this case made reasonable efforts to obtain his teaching license. He discovered, however, that he could not obtain the necessary "institutional endorsement", for certain courses he had taken, which was necessary to the issuance of the license. He had taken those courses through a consortium of colleges in Chicago, and the four year colleges involved in that consortium would not issue the "institutional endorsement" because the courses had not actually been taken through those individual institutions. The employe did not contact the remaining institution involved in the consortium, a two year college, to determine whether it would issue an "institutional endorsement", because the licensing requirements provided that the courses had to be taken through a four year college, and an "institutional endorsement" from that two year college would thus have been unsatisfactory. The employe's inability to obtain the license was thus not something he could do anything about.

The employer refers to some delay on the part of the employe in seeking the necessary license. However, the Commission was satisfied that the delay was not the cause of the employe's failure to obtain the license. Therefore, even if the delay was unwise or unjustified, it does not provide a basis for concluding that the employe constructively quit his job.

The employer also argues that the situation presented here is analogous to that in which an employe fails to obtain renewal of a license necessary to the performance of a job, and is disqualified pursuant to the provisions of section 108.04 (1)(f), Stats. The Commission disagrees. As the Administrative Law Judge noted, that section is not applicable in cases in which the employe never had the license in the first place. Joint District No. 2, Lisbon-Pewaukee Schools v. DILHR and Moore, (Dane County Circuit Court, Case No. 148-394, August 9, 1976). The failure of an employe to obtain a license in the first instance is not "analogous" to a situation involving loss of a license (either throughout outright revocation, or failure of renewal) for purposes of application of this section.

cc: 
Ms. Joanne Campbell, Classification & Injury UC Administrator
Gary M. Williams, Attorney at Law


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