Wanda E. Pangallo, Appellant

vs.

Roberta Steinbach, Adm., Ohio Bureau of Employment Serv.,

et al., Appellees

No. CA86-12-085
COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, CLERMONT COUNTY
Slip Opinion
June 8, 1987, Decided

JUDGES

JONES, P.J., KOEHLER and YOUNG, JJ., concur.

 OPINION

 

 

 
PER CURIAM.> This cause came on to be heard upon an appeal, transcript of the docket, journal entries and original papers from the Court of Common Pleas of Clermont County, Ohio, the transcript of proceedings, and the briefs and oral arguments of counsel.

 

Now, therefore, the assignment of error having been fully considered, is passed upon in conformity with App. R. 12(A) as follows:

 

This appeal concerns the denial of unemployment compensation benefits to claimant-appellant, Wanda E. Pangallo>. From April 29, 1985 until July 17, 1985, when she quit work, appellant was employed by appellee, I.L.C. LeasingWestern Refrigeration Service, as a truck driver.

 

On September 20, 1985, appellant filed an application for determination of benefit rights. Such application was denied by appellee Administrator, Ohio Bureau of Employment Services on December 2, 1985, the administrator having concluded that appellant quit work with I.L.C. Leasing because of parental obligation.1 By a decision on reconsideration mailed December 19, 1985, see R.C. 4141.28(G)(1), the administrator refused to alter the December 2 determination.

 

Appellant then appealed the administrator's decision on reconsideration to appellee Unemployment Compensation Board of Review per R.C. 4141.28(H). On January 22, 1986, a telephone hearing on the matter was held. In his ruling filed January 24, 1986, the referee affirmed the administrator's decision. Appellant then made application to the board of review for further appeal as contemplated by R.C. 4141.28(L), but such request was disallowed on March 13, 1986. On March 21, 1986, appellant filed a notice of appeal in the Court of Common Pleas of Clermont County per R.C. 4141.28(O). In an entry dated November 10, 1986, the court affirmed the decision of the board.

 

The matter is now before this court pursuant to appellant's timely notice of appeal. A single assignment of error is raised as follows:

 

"The lower court erred when it affirmed the referee's decision as supported by the manifest weight of the evidence."2

 

When reviewing the decision of the employment compensation services board of review, a court of common pleas is required to examine the record before the board and determine whether the board's decision was supported by competent, credible evidence contained in the record. If the decision is found to be unlawful, unreasonable, or against the manifest weight of the evidence, it may be reversed; otherwise, the court must affirm such decision. R.C. 4141.28(O); Vest v. Board of Review (1952), 93 Ohio App. 504. Accordingly, this court, when reviewing a decision of a court of common pleas per R.C. 4141.28(O), need only evaluate the court's performance of its review function as set forth in the statute. See Unger v. Administrator (Sept. 28, 1984), Preble App. No. CA84-04-013, unreported; Breeding v. Administrator (May 5, 1986), Butler App. No. CA85-10-126, unreported.

 

A review of the administrator's file3 and the testimony presented at the hearing before the board of review reveals sufficient evidence which would have enabled the board of review to conclude that appellant quit her work with I.L.C. Leasing because of parental obligation. See R.C. 4141.29(D)(2)(c) at footnote 1, supra. For example, on her written application for determination of benefit rights appellant stated as her reason for separation from work: "[l]ost baby sitter away from home too much." Further, the referee's finding that "* * * claimant quit employment because of her responsibilities as a parent, brought to the fore by the resignation of a live-in baby sitter" is supported by appellant's written statements contained in her "Claimant's Statement."

 

As the record before the board of review did contain some competent, credible evidence in support of the board's decision that appellant quit her work because of parental obligation, said decision was not contrary to the weight of the evidence. Seasons Coal Co. v. Cleveland (1984), 10 Ohio St. 3d 77. Therefore, the court of common pleas was correct in affirming the board and appellant's assignment of error is overruled.

 

The assignment of error properly before this court having been ruled upon as heretofore set forth, it is the order of this court that the judgment or final order herein appealed from be, and the same hereby is, affirmed.

 

It is further ordered that a mandate be sent to the Court of Common Pleas of Clermont County, Ohio, for execution upon this judgment.

 

Costs to be taxed in compliance with App. R. 24. And the court, being of the opinion that there were reasonable grounds for this appeal, allows no penalty.

 

It is further ordered that a certified copy of this Memorandum Decision and Judgment Entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to App. R. 27.

 

To all of which the appellant, by her counsel, excepts.

 

JONES, P.J., KOEHLER and YOUNG, JJ., concur.

 

"Each eligible individual shall receive benefits as compensation for loss of remuneration due to involuntary total or partial unemployment in the amounts and subject to the conditions stipulated in sections 4141.01 to 4141.46 of the Revised Code.

 

"(A) No individual is entitled to a waiting period or benefits for any week unless he: [files an application; makes a claim; registers at an employment office; is able to work; is unable to obtain suitable work].

 

"(D) Notwithstanding division (A) of this section, no individual may serve a waiting period or be paid benefits under the following conditions:

 

"(2) For the duration of his unemployment if the administrator finds that:

 

"(c) Such individual quit work to marry or because of marital, parental, filial, or other domestic obligations."

 

Legal Aid Society of Clermont County, Lisa E. O'Rear, for Appellant

 

Anthony J. Celebrezze, Jr., Attorney General of Ohio, Patrick A. Devine, Assistant Attorney General, for Appellees

 OPINION FOOTNOTES

 

 

 
1 R.C. 4141.29 establishes the standards for determining whether an eligible employee shall receive benefits following termination of her employment. It provides in part:

 

2 Under this assignment of error, appellant presents two issues for "review and argument": (1) "The appellant has established just cause for her quit from I.L.C. LeasingWestern Refrigeration"; (2) "The referee may not disregard undisputed evidence contained in the record and substitute his own judgment for such evidence in rendering a decision on the issues." However, because these two "issues" raise essentially the same question, they will be discussed together.

 

3 By statute, the board of review is entitled to consider not only the evidence taken at the hearing, but all of the information contained in the file of the administrator of employment services. R.C. 4141.28(J) states that such file shall automatically become a part of the record at the appeal hearing and that all information therein pertaining to the claim at issue "*** shall be considered by the board *** in arriving at a decision, together with any other information which may be produced at the hearing." See, also, In the Claim of: Pate (Jan. 22, 1985), Warren App. No. CA84-06-038, unreported, at p. 4.