SYLLABUS

(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized).

John M. Utley v. Board of Review, Department of Labor (A-126-06)

Argued November 27, 2007 -- Decided May 15, 2008

ALBIN, J., writing for a majority of the Court.

The issue before the Court is whether, for purposes of collecting unemployment benefits, an employee’s lack of transportation from work, which led to his separation from employment, was caused by work related factors or purely personal factors within the employee’s control.

John Utley worked for Myron Manufacturing Corporation (Myron) in Maywood, New Jersey for thirteen years. Because of a visual impairment, Utley relied on public transportation to get back and forth from his home in Paterson to work each day. In February 2005, Utley’s shift hours were changed to a time when buses were not running at the end of his shift. He informed his supervisors of his transportation problem. To adapt to the shift change, Utley carpooled home for a short time with a supervisor who lived in Hackensack. Thereafter, Utley found another co-worker, Raquel, to take him home. That arrangement was suitable as long as Utley and Raquel worked the same hours, including the “mandatory overtime” required by Myron. At some point, however, Raquel was relieved of her overtime duty. On some evenings, Raquel would wait the several hours until Utley’s extended shift was over and then take him home. On other occasions, despite the mandatory overtime requirement, Utley would leave at midnight in order to get a ride home with Raquel. This transportation problem continued for nine months. Utley explained the situation to his supervisors but they demanded that he work overtime despite the fact that he would be stranded at the end of his extended shift.