Section 29(1)(b)
MISCONDUCT DISCHARGE, Agency shop fees, Discharge, Good cause
CITE AS: Parks v ESC, 427 Mich 224 (1986).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: Anne B. Parks
Employer: Detroit Public Schools
Docket No: B78 12258 66005
SUPREME COURT HOLDING: An individual whose employment is terminated for failing to pay agency shop fees as required by the applicable collective bargaining agreement is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits.
FACTS: Claimant's employment with the Detroit Public Schools was terminated pursuant to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement because she failed to pay agency shop fees to the Detroit Federation of Teachers, the recognized bargaining agent for teachers and counselors. She objected to being "forced" to financially support an organization which conducted activities to which she was opposed.
DECISION: The claimant is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits.
RATIONALE: A majority of the Court held the claimant is disqualified. A plurality, Justices Brickley and Archer and Chief Justice Williams, concluded the claimant should be disqualified for work-connected misconduct under Section 29(1)(b) as her failure to pay agency shop fees after receiving notice from the employer demonstrated an intentional disregard of the employer's interests. Two justices, Boyle and Cavanaugh, concluded that the claimant, by failing to pay the shop fees as required by the agreement, had voluntarily left her work without good cause attributable to the employer.
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