In re the Claim of Spinella
The claimant, who owned and operated a furniture upholstery business for 24 years, closed his business on October 28, 1988, due to a lack of skilled upholsterers and increasing unprofitability, despite efforts to find replacements. The local office initially disqualified him from unemployment insurance benefits for voluntarily leaving employment without good cause. An Administrative Law Judge overruled this determination, but the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board reversed, reinstating the disqualification. The court reversed the Board's decision, finding that the claimant presented substantial evidence of a compelling reason to close his business, including operating losses in prior years and significant difficulty in hiring skilled workers, which impacted his ability to fulfill orders and meet with customers. The court held that a business does not need to be bankrupt to demonstrate compelling necessity. The matter was remitted to the Board for further proceedings.