ELMER S. SANDOR v. BOARD OF REVIEW, et al.

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-6205-04T36205-04T2

ELMER S. SANDOR,

Petitioner-Appellant,

v.

BOARD OF REVIEW, and

EASTERN JANITORIAL SERVICES, INC.,

Respondents.

_______________________________________________________________

 

Submitted June 21, 2006 - Decided July 24, 2006

Before Judges Wefing and Coburn.

On appeal from the Board of Review,

Department of Labor, Docket No. 63,771.

Mauro, Savo, Camerino & Grant, attorneys

for appellant (Darren J. Leotti, on the

brief).

Zulima V. Farber, Attorney General, attorney

for respondents (Patrick DeAlmeida, Assistant

Attorney General, of counsel; Alan C. Stephens,

Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Elmer S. Sandor left his employment with Eastern Janitorial Services, Inc. ("Eastern"), and applied for unemployment compensation benefits. After a full hearing, his claim was rejected in writing by the Deputy Director of the Division of Unemployment and Disability Insurance. The Appeal Tribunal affirmed. Sandor appealed to the Board of Review, which affirmed the Appeal Tribunal, and he now appeals to us.

After carefully considering the record and briefs, we are satisfied that the decision of the Board of Review is supported by sufficient credible evidence on the record as a whole, and that Sandor's arguments are without sufficient merit to warrant discussion in a written opinion. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(D) and (E). Nonetheless, we add these comments.

Sandor, who lost one of his arms when he was nineteen years old, worked full-time for Eastern from 1974 until he quit on December 28, 2004, at the age of 57. During the twenty years up to August 2004, he supervised four janitors and personally performed cleaning work for one to two hours per day. In August 2004, Eastern lost the site at which Sandor had been working. Thereafter, Sandor worked at other sites, but this required more travel to and from work. Although he was still supervising others, he had to clean for most of the work day, which involved, among other things, the use of shampooing machines. Although his brief indicates that he told a supervisor that he could not physically do the work, the record shows, and the Appeals Tribunal found, that he did not say that until the day he quit, and that he did not request less demanding work. Nor did he supply the Deputy Director or the Appeals Tribunal with medical evidence indicating that he could not perform his job.

When an employee asserts, as here, that a medical condition is aggravated by his employment duties, he must provide medical evidence in support of the claim. Wojick v. Board of Review, 58 N.J. 341, 344 (1971). And, indeed, the pertinent regulation says that "[w]hen an individual leaves work for health or medical reasons, medical certification shall be required to support a finding of good cause attributable to work." N.J.A.C. 12:17-9.3(d). Sandor contends that no further proof was required because it was obvious that he only had one arm. But the question here was not the disability, but rather whether it prevented Sandor from doing his work. Since the evidence supported the determination that the condition did not prevent Sandor from performing his job or otherwise cause his medical condition to deteriorate, we are constrained to affirm the decision of the Board of Review.

 
Affirmed.

(continued)

(continued)

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A-6205-04T3

July 24, 2006