IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
Aracelia Cedeno,
:
Petitioner
: :
v.
: No. 1594 C.D. 2001
: SUBMITTED: November 9, 2001
Unemployment Compensation
:
Board of Review,
:
Respondent
:
BEFORE: HONORABLE JAMES GARDNER COLINS, Judge
HONORABLE BERNARD L. McGINLEY, Judge
HONORABLE EMIL E. NARICK, Senior Judge
OPINION NOT REPORTED
MEMORANDUM OPINION
BY SENIOR JUDGE NARICK
FILED: January 24, 2002
Aracelia Cedeno (Claimant) petitions pro se for review of an order of
the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Board), affirming a referee's
determination that Claimant is ineligible for compensation pursuant to Section
402(b) of the Unemployment Compensation Law (Law).
We affirm.
Keystone Wood Specialties, Inc. (Employer) of Lancaster,
Pennsylvania employed Claimant as a sander from May 30, 2000 through January
19, 2001. During her employment, Claimant felt she was being sexually harassed
by a male co-worker and reported this to Employer. Employer addressed the
matter immediately with the co-worker. Though the situation improved, there was
another incident with the co-worker involving an inappropriate hand gesture and
sexual comments. As a result of this behavior by the co-worker, Employer
discharged the co-worker in December 2000.
On January 5, 2001, Claimant gave Employer two-week notice of her
intent to resign on January 19, 2001, telling Employer that she was quitting
because she "was going to move to Chicago to live near my family."
Supplemental Reproduced Record (SSR) 24. In her questionnaire for the
Lancaster office of employment security (OES), Claimant stated that she
voluntarily quit and gave the following reasons for leaving her job:
I want to work as a nail technician, I have the P.A. nail
tech license and I move to Chicago because I have a
better chance [of] working with the license as a nail
technician, and to better myself, go back to school to
finish the cosmetology course.
SSR 12.
On January 19, 2001, Claimant left Employer and relocated to
Chicago. On February 26, 2001, the OES determined Claimant was ineligible for
unemployment compensation benefits and Claimant appealed. The referee held a
hearing that included Employer's witness, the Claimant's supervisor, who testified
in person. Claimant testified by telephone.
On March 5, 2001, the referee issued his decision affirming the OES
determination. Summarized above are the referee's Findings of Fact Nos. 1 9
and No. 11 that stated that Claimant voluntarily quit and subsequently relocated to
Chicago. Finding of Fact No. 10 stated that "[t]he claimant did not tell her
supervisor that she feared for her safety" and Finding of Fact no. 12 observed that
"[c]ontinuing work was available for the claimant had she desired to remain
employed." SSR 3. Claimant appealed and the Board affirmed, adopting the
referee's decision.
On appeal to this Court, Claimant contends that Findings of Fact Nos.
2 7 that outline the sexual harassment she felt from her co-worker and summarize
Employer's actions in response to her complaints are contradicted by Finding of
Fact No. 10. Apparently, Claimant believes that she did not need to specifically
tell her supervisor that she feared for her safety because she thought such fear
would be obvious to him. Claimant states in her brief that her supervisor knew
what she had experienced and also knew of her co-worker's bad temper and threats
of retaliation in other work place conflicts. Claimant's Br. at 11-14. She further
complains about the lack of confidentiality she discovered regarding the situation
with her male co-worker, that that lack of confidentiality made her working
conditions intolerable and that Employer did not provide her with counseling.
In an unemployment compensation appeal, where the Board's
findings of fact are supported by substantial record evidence, those facts are
conclusive on appeal. Taylor v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review,
474 Pa. 351, 378 A.2d 829 (1977). The weakness of Claimant's position here lies
in the fact that her argument is based upon her interpretation, not the Board's, of
the facts. Hager v. Unemployment Board of Review, 482 A.2d 1368 (Pa. Cmwlth.
1984). During the referee's hearing, when asked if she told her supervisor that she
was quitting because she was afraid her former male co-worker would harm her,
she replied "no." SSR at 25.
The Court is aware that Claimant was not represented by counsel at
any stage of this proceeding, however, it is well established that any person who
chooses to represent herself in a legal proceeding must assume the risk that her
lack of expertise and legal training may prove her undoing. Vann v.
Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 508 Pa. 139, 494 A.2d 1081
(1985). The facts found by the Board conclusively establish that Claimant did not
carry her burden of proving a necessitous and compelling reason for her
voluntarily leaving her job with Employer. Baird v. Unemployment Compensation
Board of Review, 372 A.2d 1254 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1977). The Board properly denied
benefits under Section 402(b) of the Law.
Accordingly, we affirm.
EMIL E. NARICK, Senior Judge