Section 29(1)(a)
VOLUNTARY LEAVING, Bona fide residence, Prerequisite of employment, Residency requirement, Misconduct discharge
CITE AS: City of Saginaw v Lindquist, sub nom Parks v ESC, 427 Mich 224 (1986).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: Nancy A. Lindquist
Employer: City of Saginaw
Docket No: B81 06822 RO1 78455
SUPREME COURT HOLDING: Failure to sufficiently comply with a condition of employment constitutes a voluntary leaving without good cause attributable to the employer.
FACTS: The claimant was working for the involved employer when she moved from Saginaw to Lupton with her husband and children. She lived in Saginaw a few days a week to be close to work but never intended the Saginaw address to be her permanent address. The claimant was terminated for failing to maintain a bona fide residence in the City of Saginaw as required by its Administrative Code.
DECISION: The claimant is disqualified pursuant to Section 29(1)(a) of the MES Act.
RATIONALE: Although the claimant did not resign because of the change in the location of her residence, her failure to sufficiently comply with the residency requirement, a condition of her employment, constituted a voluntary leaving without good cause attributable to the employer. The court was not persuaded that claimant's attempts to comply with the requirement constituted wilful "misconduct connected with work." The claimant is treated "as if she had done that which was presumably required under the circumstances -- resigned because of the relocation of her permanent residence."
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