## Facts

- John De St. Germain worked for Kelly Health Care, Inc. from October 1981 until late June 1984 as a live-in certified nursing assistant assigned to patients’ homes.
- De St. Germain suffered from kidney stones and worried that an attack during a live-in assignment could leave him stranded at a patient’s home or force him to leave a patient without care.
- Around June 26, 1984, he asked the employer to remove him from live-in assignments because of those health concerns.
- Kelly Health Care had an on-call coordinator who could respond to emergencies.
- The employer told De St. Germain he could continue working through day-to-day temporary (one-day) assignments rather than live-in placements.
- De St. Germain declined the first one-day assignment offered, stating that the work raised concerns about heavy lifting.
- After he declined that first assignment, the employer did not offer further one-day assignments, and De St. Germain’s employment ended.
- De St. Germain applied for unemployment compensation benefits.
- The Employment Division denied benefits, asserting in its administrative determination that he left work rather than comply with the employer’s requirements.
- After a hearing, a referee found that continued work was available through day-to-day assignments and that De St. Germain had not shown compelling reasons for leaving; the referee concluded he voluntarily left work without good cause.
- The Employment Appeals Board (EAB) affirmed and adopted the referee’s decision, and De St. Germain sought judicial review in the Oregon Court of Appeals.

## Issues

1. Whether the EAB’s conclusion that De St. Germain voluntarily left work without good cause was supported by adequate findings and substantial evidence, given his kidney-stone concerns and the employer’s limited offer of day-to-day work.
2. Whether an agency may disqualify a claimant based on “continued work available” without clear, supported findings that suitable work actually remained available to the claimant under the circumstances.

## Decision

- The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the EAB’s order denying unemployment compensation benefits.
- The court held that the administrative decision could not stand on the findings and record presented.

## Legal Principles

- Under Oregon unemployment law, a claimant is disqualified from benefits if the claimant voluntarily leaves work without good cause.
- “Good cause” is evaluated under an objective standard, asking what a reasonable and prudent person would do in similar circumstances; legitimate health and safety concerns can be relevant to that analysis.
- An agency’s order must rest on findings that are supported by substantial evidence, and the findings must be sufficient to support the legal conclusion reached.
- When the agency relies on the idea that “continued work” was available, it must make clear, record-supported findings about what work was actually offered and whether it was suitable in light of the claimant’s situation.

## Conclusion

De St. Germain involved a live-in certified nursing assistant who requested removal from live-in assignments because of kidney-stone risks and then declined a one-day assignment due to lifting concerns. The referee and EAB treated the separation as a voluntary quit without good cause because day-to-day work was supposedly available. The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed, concluding that the agency’s findings and reasoning did not adequately support disqualification on this record.


De St. Germain v. Employment Division, 703 P.2d 986 (1985)