Terminating the Employment Relationship

2. O THER F ORMS OF G OOD C AUSE F OR L EAVING W ORK

a. Leaving Work Due to Lack of Equal Employment Opportunity An employee is considered to have left work with good cause if the employer deprived the employee of equal employment opportunities because of that person’s race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry or physical handicap. 399 b. Leaving Work Due to Sexual Harassment An employee is considered to have left work with good cause if the employee left employment due to sexual harassment, provided only that the employee took reasonable steps to maintain the employment relationship. 400 c. Leaving Work to Accompany a Spouse to a New Location An employee who resigns from employment to accompany the employee’s spouse to a place where it is impractical to commute is considered to have left employment with good cause. 401 d. Leaving Work Due to Domestic Violence Abuse An employee who resigns from employment in order to protect the employee’s children, or themselves from domestic violence abuse is considered to have left with good cause. 402 e. Leaving Work Due to Concerns for Health, Safety or Morals An employee who resigns from employment because of an undue risk of injury; health reasons; physical impairment; impairment of hearing, speech or vision; pregnancy; or unsanitary conditions constitutes resignation with good cause if the employee took reasonable steps to preserve the employment relationship. 403 The California Code of Regulations sets forth other miscellaneous reasons for leaving work that may or may not constitute good cause depending on the circumstances. Each factual circumstance must be judged on its own merits and is determined on a case by case basis. 404 3. D ISCHARGE F OR M ISCONDUCT An employee is not eligible for unemployment benefits if the employer discharged the employee for misconduct. 405 Bewa re that an employer’s definition of misconduct is almost always different than the definition of misconduct under the Unemployment Insurance Code. Under the Unemployment Insurance Code, misconduct exists if all of the following elements are met:

The employee owes a material duty to the employer;

There is a substantial breach of that duty;

The breach is a willful or wanton disregard of that duty; and

The breach disregards the employer’s interest and injures or tends to injure the employer’s interests. 406

Terminating the Employment Relationship ©2022 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 129