RENDERED: JANUARY 12, 2007; 10:00 A.M. 
TO BE PUBLISHED 

Commonwealth Of Kentucky 
Court of Appeals 

LES BROWNLEE, ACTING SECRETARY, 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY; AND 
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA APPELLANTS 

v. 

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, 
KENTUCKY UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE 

OPINION 
AFFIRMING 
** ** ** ** ** 
BEFORE: JOHNSON1 AND TAYLOR, JUDGES; BUCKINGHAM,2 SENIOR JUDGE. 
BUCKINGHAM, SENIOR JUDGE: The United States Army and its Acting 
Secretary appeal from a certain judgment of the Hardin Circuit 
Court modifying and affirming certain orders of the Kentucky 
Unemployment Insurance Commission (KUIC). Having considered the 
briefs, the record, and all applicable law, we affirm. 

In August and November 2002, it was announced that, 
because they would be replaced through private contracting, 160 
employees at the military base at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, would lose 
their positions. In February 2003 a “mock” Reduction in Force 
(RIF) notice was sent to the affected employees. They were 
informed how the restructuring would influence them and were 
given the option to accept voluntary early retirement and a one 
time, lump sum Voluntary Separation Incentive (VSI) or be 
included in the actual RIF, scheduled to take place in July of 
that year. 

Each of the individual appellees here chose early 
retirement and received the VSI payment ($25,000.00), then 
applied for unemployment benefits. The Army challenged the 
unemployment benefits, and the KUIC determined that these 
individual appellees were entitled to receive the benefits. The 
Army sought review in the Hardin Circuit Court pursuant to KRS 
341.450(1). The parties filed briefs, and a hearing was held on 
September 20, 2005. The Hardin Circuit Court entered its 
opinion and order on September 30, 2005. Although the trial 
court rejected KUIC’s finding of “constructive discharge,” it 
held that the individual appellees had sufficiently demonstrated 
“good cause” under KRS 341.370(1)(c) for leaving work. The 
trial court affirmed the granting of unemployment benefits, and 
the Army appeals. 

We initially address the Army’s claim that the trial 
court erred by employing a net result analysis. Without 
belaboring this issue, we simply state that it was the Army that 
brought a joint complaint for judicial review and cannot now be 
heard to complain otherwise. 

We now turn to the substantive issue before us, 
namely, whether the trial court properly affirmed the KUIC’s 
granting of unemployment benefits to these individual appellees. 

Upon review of an administrative 
agency's adjudicatory decision, an appeal 
court's authority is somewhat limited. The 
judicial standard of review of an 
unemployment benefit decision is whether the 
KUIC's findings of fact were supported by 
substantial evidence and whether the agency 
correctly applied the law to the facts. 
Substantial evidence is defined as evidence, 
taken alone or in light of all the evidence, 
that has sufficient probative value to 
induce conviction in the minds of reasonable 
people. If there is substantial evidence to 
support the agency's findings, a court must 
defer to that finding even though there is 
evidence to the contrary. A court may not 
substitute its opinion as to the credibility 
of the witnesses, the weight given the 
evidence, or the inferences to be drawn from 
the evidence. A court's function in 
administrative matters is one of review, not 
reinterpretation. 

Thompson v. Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission, 85 
S.W.3d 621, 624 (Ky.App. 2002)(footnotes and citations omitted). 

This Court’s standard of review is the same. 

“Good cause” is defined in Kentucky Unemployment 
Insurance Commission v. Murphy, 539 S.W.2d 293, 294 (Ky. 1976), 
as existing “only when the worker is faced with circumstances so 
compelling as to leave no reasonable alternative but loss of 
employment.” KRS 341.370(1)(c) further requires that the good 
cause be “attributable to the employment.” All parties and the 
trial court agree that there is no Kentucky law directly on 
point. The trial court considered the parties’ cited cases from 
sister jurisdictions and found that “they may have helpful 
analysis, but, in the end, they are of limited assistance 
because each state has a slightly different statutory framework 
or has specific regulations addressing this matter.” The trial 
court then analyzed several of those cases to distinguish them 
from the present situation. Ultimately, the Hardin Circuit 
Court held in favor of these employees. 

In our limited review, we decline to disturb the trial 
court’s opinion and order. There is substantial evidence in the 
record to support the finding of good cause, and the trial court 
“correctly applied the law to the facts.” Thompson, supra. 

The judgment of the Hardin Circuit Court is affirmed.