ANNM. EDMONDS v. BOARD OF REVIEW, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, ROWAN COLLEGE OF GLOUCESTER COUNTY1 AND ROWAN UNIVERSITY/RUTGERS-CAMDEN -

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
                      APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
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                                       SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
                                       APPELLATE DIVISION
                                       DOCKET NO. A-1419-16T1

ANN M. EDMONDS,

        Claimant-Appellant,

v.

BOARD OF REVIEW, DEPARTMENT
OF LABOR, ROWAN COLLEGE OF
GLOUCESTER COUNTY1 AND ROWAN
UNIVERSITY/RUTGERS-CAMDEN,

     Respondents-Respondents.
______________________________

              Submitted January 18, 2018 – Decided February 23, 2018

              Before Judges Nugent and Currier.

              On appeal from the Board of Review, Department
              of Labor, Docket No. 095,349.

              Ronald B. Weisenberg, attorney for appellant.

              Brown & Connery, LLP, attorney for respondent
              Rowan College (Michael J. DiPiero, on the
              brief).

              Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, attorney
              for respondent Board of Review (Melissa Dutton
              Schaffer, Assistant Attorney General, of



1
    The entity was incorrectly designated as Gloucester County
College.
          counsel;   Rimma  Razhba,          Deputy        Attorney
          General, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

     Claimant    Ann   Edmonds   appeals    from    the    October    17,   2016

decision of the Board of Review (Board) finding her ineligible for

unemployment benefits pursuant to 
N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(a).                 After a

review of the contentions in light of the record and applicable

principles of law, we affirm.

     Claimant left her employment at Rowan College of Gloucester

County on April 29, 2016, to start a new job at Rowan University.

Although she initially intended to start on May 2, 2016, she

postponed her start date until May 16 so that she could undergo a

planned surgery.       Claimant was terminated by Rowan on June 6,

2016.

     Claimant was found disqualified for benefits by the Deputy

Director of Unemployment Insurance.          He determined that she had

left her job voluntarily to pursue other employment.              Because she

began her subsequent employment more than seven days after her

resignation, she was not eligible for benefits.

     Following     claimant's    appeal     of      the    determination,       a

telephonic   hearing    was   conducted    before    the    Appeal    Tribunal.

Claimant confirmed the end and start dates of the jobs, and that

she had left her first employment voluntarily. The Appeal Tribunal


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affirmed the Deputy's determination, finding that claimant was

disqualified from benefits under 
N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(a) "as she left

[her first] job voluntarily . . . without good cause attributable

to the work" and did not start the new job within seven days of

leaving the prior employment.    The Board affirmed the Tribunal's

decision.

     On appeal, claimant contends that the Board's decision should

be reversed because it penalizes her for being honest with her new

employer and it is inconsistent with 
N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(a).    We are

mindful that our review of administrative agency decisions is

limited.    We will not disturb an agency's action unless it was

clearly "arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable."     Brady v. Bd.

of Review, 
152 N.J. 197, 210 (1997).

     
N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(a) provides, in pertinent part, that an

individual is disqualified for benefits

            [f]or the week in which the individual has
            left work voluntarily without good cause
            attributable to such work, and for each week
            thereafter until the individual becomes
            reemployed   and   works   eight   weeks   in
            employment. . . . This subsection shall not
            apply to an individual who voluntarily leaves
            work with one employer to accept from another
            employer employment which commences not more
            than seven days after the individual leaves
            employment with the first employer.

     Claimant did not start work until more than two weeks after

she voluntarily left her former job.   Although she now argues she

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should not be "penalized" for being honest with her new employer

that she intended to take off some time for a preplanned medical

procedure, it remains undisputed that she chose to begin the new

job more than two weeks after leaving the old employment.     It is

also undisputed that she had not worked eight weeks in her new

position prior to her discharge. The substantial credible evidence

in the record supports the Board's determination that claimant was

disqualified from benefits.

     Affirmed.




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