UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE - VOLUNTARY SEPARATION

Discrimination is "good cause" for a voluntary separation but as these cases demonstrate, from the Appeals Board web site, discrimination must be established:

Discriminatory enforcement of company rule constitutes good cause for voluntary leaving of employment. (A.B. 6849-42, )

Promotion in disregard of seniority rights established by prevailing custom indicated discrimination and was good cause for voluntary leaving. (A.B. 1965-42; )

Claimant's leaving was with good cause where his monthly salary was reduced to correspond to a shorter work week, such reduction not being uniformly applied to all personnel in claimant's category, as the employer in effect materially altered the terms and conditions of the contract of hire. (A.B. 13,619-46; )

Where claimant voluntarily left her employment because her employer refused a salary increase to the same wage level as that paid to male co-workers for similar work, and it appeared that the differential in pay was based on experience and ability and not on sex discrimination, held that the leaving was without good cause. (A.B. 12,544-45; )

Employer's failure to fulfill promise to increase salary constitutes good cause for voluntary leaving of employment where co-workers in the same establishment received considerably more for the same work. (A.B. 6442-41; )

Failure to receive increase in pay, as did other employees doing same grade of work, such increase being based on seniority, was not good cause for voluntary leaving of employment, when claimant did not have necessary seniority. (A.B. 12,762-46; )

Where claimant voluntarily left her employment because she felt disappointed and aggrieved in not being promoted to a higher position for which she felt better qualified than the incumbent who was younger and had less formal education and seniority, such leaving was held to be without good cause since it was within the employer's province to fix qualifications and to make promotions in the organizations. (A.B. 22,402-50; )

Article 15 of the N.Y. State Executive Law, known as "The Human Rights Law", provides that it shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer (Section 296.1(a)) "because of the age, race, creed, color, national origin, sex, or disability or marital status of any individual *** to discriminate against such individual in compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment and additionally (Section 296.3 (a)), because an individual is between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five *** to discriminate against such individual in promotion, compensation, or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment."