Section 29(8)
LABOR DISPUTE, Misconduct, Collective bargaining agreement, Commission neutrality
CITE AS: Lillard v Employment Security Commission, 364 Mich 401 (1961).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: Freddie Lillard
Employer: Chrysler Corporation
Docket No: B58 817 20795
SUPREME COURT HOLDING: " ... [I]t is not the role of the Michigan Employment Security Commission or the Courts to judge the merits of a labor dispute."
FACTS: Claimant was discharged for an unauthorized walkout. The walkout contravened provisions of the contract in force between employer and claimant's union. The claimant was a member of a department where, as a result of newly automated process, jobs were being eliminated. Claimant's walkout was in protest of job elimination by employer without consultation with the union.
DECISION: The labor dispute section of the statute applies and it is in error in applying the misconduct provision.
RATIONALE: " ... This appeal represents still another attempt to make use of a public act, the Michigan employment security act, as a disciplinary measure to enforce a private collective bargaining agreement. ... The full measure or discipline provided by the collective bargaining agreement has been applied to this claimant. As far as the private collective bargaining agreement is concerned, claimant has lost his job and his case."
"Nothing appears more certain than that this was a labor dispute. This was a disagreement between some employees of the Chrysler Corporation and their employer over job elimination and work standards. Lack of union sanction for the stoppage does not change the nature of the difficulty. The labor disputes disqualification should have been applied."
11/90
NA