Section 29(6)
REFUSAL OF WORK, Offer of former position as a long term substitute, Substitute teacher, Suitable work
CITE AS: Zielinski v Bay City Public Schools & MESC No. 58867
(Mich App October 12, 1982).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: Karen Zielinski
Employer: Bay City Public Schools
Docket No: B79 00344 66220
COURT OF APPEALS HOLDING: Work which is unsuitable at the beginning of unemployment may become suitable when consideration is given to the length of unemployment and the prospects of securing accustomed work.
FACTS: Claimant, a full time first and second grade teacher for three years, was laid off. After approximately eight months of unemployment, Claimant was hired as a long term substitute teacher at a salary of $42 per day. She was laid off at the end of the school year. In November, Claimant was again offered a position as a long term substitute teacher for a duration of six weeks. Claimant refused the work because she had no prior experience teaching physical education classes to sixth graders. Claimant was elementary certified to teach all subjects in grades one through six.
DECISION: Claimant is disqualified for refusal of work.
RATIONALE: The Court considered all the relevant statutory criteria in Sec. 29(6) of the Act in accordance with Dueweke v Morang Drive Greenhouses, Inc., 411 Mich 670, 678; 31 NW2d 712 (1981). "An offer of employment need not be identical to claimant's prior employment, and her apparent inexperience in teaching higher grade levels does not render the offered work unsuitable."
The Court cites Grace v Maine Employment Security Comm., 398 A2d 1233 (1979) to support the disqualification where a claimant is unable to secure a full time teaching position after more than two months of unemployment, and is unaware of any prospects for such employment.
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