Work-related stress
Maine v Commissioner of Labor, 282 AD2d 854
The Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board ruled that Vivian W. Maine was disqualified from receiving unemployment insurance benefits because he voluntarily left his employment without good cause.
Maine argued that he was eligible for unemployment insurance benefits because he resigned from his clerk position with the State Insurance Fund as a result of work-related stress caused by an increased workload due to a reduction in staff.
Pointing out that Maine neither informed his supervisor of the problems he claimed that he was experiencing nor that he had received medical advice to leave his job, the Appellate Division sustained the Appeal Board's determination.
The court said that substantial evidence supports the Board's decision that Maine voluntarily left his employment with the State Insurance Fund without good cause.
Citing Matter of Costello, 268 AD2d 845, the court noted that “dissatisfaction with one's employment, including assertions of being overworked, does not constitute good cause for leaving employment.”