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CCH® UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE — 4/28/16

Ohio court upholds benefits denial finding claimant had abandoned his position

A claimant who owned 50 percent of a family company along with his brother and who served as the company president was denied benefits after he did not report to work for 10 months because of a heart attack and other health-related problems. The company did not request information about the claimant’s absence and possible date of return, but continued to pay him. When he attempted to enter the workplace to return, he found that the locks had been changed. The claimant also was informed that he was no longer an employee and would no longer be paid. The claimant’s abandonment of his position constituted fault that served to suspend his connection with work, rendering him ineligible for benefits. Accordingly, the lower court’s denial of benefits was affirmed (Theodore T. Kost v. ODJFS, Ohio Ct. of App., Eleventh District, Portage County, No. 2015-P-0045, March 31, 2016).