Section 29(8)
LABOR DISPUTE, Merits of the labor dispute
CITE AS: Lawrence Baking Co. v Unemployment Compensation Commission, 308 Mich 198 (1944).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: Voyle English, et al
Employer: Lawrence Baking Company
Docket No: 6820 769 7024
SUPREME COURT HOLDING: "The public purpose of the unemployment compensation law is to alleviate the distress of unemployment, and the payment of benefits is not conditioned upon the merits of the labor dispute causing unemployment."
FACTS: Fifteen minutes after 16 of the employer's 38 employees went on strike and interrupted operations, the employer hired new employees and resumed operations without further interruption. The strikers filed for unemployment benefits for weeks after they had been notified that they had been replaced for their participation in the strike.
DECISION: The claimants are not disqualified from receiving benefits.
RATIONALE: This case was decided prior to the 1963 amendments to the labor dispute disqualification provisions of the Act. Prior to such amendments, disqualification would be imposed if the unemployment was due to a stoppage of work existing because of the labor dispute in the establishment. The claimants were held not disqualified because there was no stoppage of operations in the establishment during the weeks for which they were claiming benefits. This decision is included in the Digest because of the significance of the "HOLDING" above.
12/91
NA