Sections 28(1)(c), 29(1)(e), 29(6)
REFUSAL OF WORK, Offer of former job, Distance, Out of state, Residence, Requalification
CITE AS: Bingham v American Screw Products Co, 398 Mich 546 (1976).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: Arlie K. Bingham
Employer: American Screw Products
Docket No: B70 2410 38743
SUPREME COURT HOLDING: 1. Claimant who established credit weeks in Michigan can requalify for benefits by being able and available in Kentucky. 2. Since claimant resided in Kentucky his previous Michigan employer's offer of work was not suitable as it was too distant from his residence in Kentucky.
FACTS: Claimant left a Michigan job because he could not find adequate housing at a price he could afford. He was disqualified for voluntary leaving. He returned home to Kentucky, and registered for work with the appropriate employment office there. Thereafter he diligently sought and made himself available for suitable work, but turned down a job offer from his former Michigan employer due to the distance from his Kentucky residence.
DECISION: (1) Claimant requalified for benefits after serving the period of disqualification under the Act, and (2) was not disqualified for refusing his former employer's job offer because the offer was not an offer of "suitable work" due to the fact the job was too distant from his residence.
RATIONALE: 1. When a claimant moves to a locality other than where he earned credit weeks, his being able and available should be determined by whether he was genuinely attached to the labor market in his new locality.
2. In determining whether the Michigan employer's offer of work was suitable the Court found claimant's residence was in Kentucky as this is where he actually lived. The Court of Appeals erred in holding the Michigan employment offer was suitable, when it determined claimant's residence as a matter of law was both where he resides and where he earned credit weeks. To hold otherwise would restrict an unemployed person's right of freedom of movement to seek a job where it is best for him.
6/91
NA