Court of Appeals hears appeal after worker quit amid PTO dispute; agencys standards questioned

The Utah Court of Appeals heard oral argument in Jeffrey Jones v. Department of Workforce Services on a challenge to the agencye2s denial of unemployment benefits after Jones voluntarily left his job.

Louisa Goffard, counsel for petitioner Jeffrey Jones, told the panel the court should "set aside the decision of the Department of Workforce Services and the Services Appeals Board and award unemployment benefits to Mr. Jones," arguing the agency applied incorrect legal standards on both "good cause" for quitting and on "equity and good conscience." "The Employment Security Act is designed to provide a cushion from the shock and rigors of unemployment," Goffard said.

Goffard told the court that the question of good cause turns on whether continuing employment would have produced an adverse effect the claimant could not control or prevent, and she urged the court to focus on adverse effects within the employment relationship rather than outcomes that happened after Jones left. She argued the review of legal questions…