ROOSEVELT J. CUBBAGE v. BOARD OF REVIEW, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR et al.

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-0918-05T50918-05T5

ROOSEVELT J. CUBBAGE,

Appellant,

v.

BOARD OF REVIEW, DEPARTMENT

OF LABOR and TROP WORLD CASINO

& ENTERTAINMENT RESORT,

Respondents.

___________________________

 

Submitted October 3, 2006 - Decided October 18, 2006

Before Judges S.L. Reisner and C.L. Miniman.

On appeal from a Final Decision of the Board of Review, Department of Labor, Docket No. 76,474.

Roosevelt J. Cubbage, appellant pro se.

Stuart Rabner, Attorney General, attorney for respondent Board of Review (Patrick DeAlmeida, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; John C. Turi, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Claimant, Roosevelt J. Cubbage, appeals from a final determination of the Board of Review, issued on September 15, 2005, denying his claim for unemployment benefits and ordering him to repay $201 in benefits that he previously received. Having reviewed the record, we conclude that the Board's decision is supported by substantial credible evidence, R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(D), and that claimant's appellate contentions are without sufficient merit to warrant discussion in a written opinion. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E). We add the following comments.

Following a hearing, the Appeal Tribunal determined that Cubbage lost his job as a house man for Trop World Casino & Entertainment Resort (Tropicana), as a result of his becoming incarcerated on January 23, 2005. The Tribunal determined that he was ineligible for unemployment benefits, because the Board's regulations treat job loss due to incarceration as a form of voluntarily leaving work. N.J.A.C. 12:17-9.1(e)(10). He was also held liable to refund $201 in benefits that he received while he was incarcerated. The Board affirmed the Tribunal's decision.

The record supports the agency's decision. Although claimant's brief asserts that he was terminated from his job "after accumulating a certain amount of points due to lateness and no-call-no show," his appeal letters to the agency admitted that he lost his job because he "was unable to work due to being incarcerated." At his hearing on July 27, 2005, he also admitted that although his work attendance was sporadic, he was still scheduled to report to work at the time he "got locked up." He also admitted that once he was released, he went back to Tropicana to pick up a check but did not attempt to go back to work.

An employee is disqualified for unemployment benefits if he or she leaves work "voluntarily without good cause attributable to such work." N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(a). In Fennell v. Bd. of Review, 297 N.J. Super. 319 (App. Div.), certif. denied, 151 N.J. 464 (1997), we held that an employee who loses his job due to incarceration is disqualified for unemployment benefits under this provision. As in Fennell, claimant's "reason for leaving work was his personal problem, incarceration on criminal charges. . . . These unfortunate economic and legal problems were not related to his employment." Id. at 324.

Affirmed.

 

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A-0918-05T5

October 18, 2006