News & Information

CCH® UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE — 05/12/17

Duty of Board, not court, to determine question of credibility; claimant awarded benefits

The court affirmed a decision that awarded benefits to a claimant who had been terminated from his employment after being involved in an accident while operating a machine in an unsafe area. On review, the court found no reason to find that the Board abused its discretion in reversing the decision of the Referee, which had originally denied the claim for benefits. The court noted that the employer failed to offer any evidence regarding a prior accident involving "similar conduct." While the employer argued on appeal that the Board should have accepted the employer's testimony regarding the prior accident as true, it was the duty of the Board, not the court, to determine questions of credibility and make factual findings. Further, not every act that violates an employee's duties or expected standard of behavior is necessarily a willful or wanton act. While the claimant's conduct was clearly a deviation from his expected standard of conduct, the Board found no evidence that it was willful or wanton (Murphy Marine Services v. UIAB, Del. Super. Ct., No. N16A-06-004 CEB, April 6, 2017).