Employers may be charged for unemployment benefits even when employees are physically or mentally unable to do their jobs

If you thought that an employer that discharges an employee for inability to do his job couldn’t possibly be responsible for unemployment benefits, you would be wrong, just as the employer was in Vavrosky Maccoll Olson Busch & Pfeifer, PC v. Employment Department.  In that case, decided last week by the Oregon Court of Appeals, the employer law firm terminated the employment of an attorney whose bipolar disorder and the medication he used to treat it interfered with his ability to work. The employer sought relief from charges under ORS 657.471(5)(b) after the employee was granted unemployment benefits. That statute creates an exception from charges when an employee is “unable to satisfy a job prerequisite required by law or administrative rule.”  The Court of Appeals gave the law a narrow interpretation, holding that it applies only when the employer has no choice but to discharge the employee due to the employee’s inability to satisfy a readily ascertainable legal requirement, such as licensing. Even if the attorney discharged in this case was unable to satisfy the standards of his profession, he remained licensed to practice law. Consequently, the court affirmed the Employment Department’s refusal to grant the employer relief from charges.