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Court: Getting to work is not your employer's problem

Posted at 1:40 PM on June 1, 2010 by Bob Collins
Filed under: Crime and Justice

Keep this in mind if your employer moves your office and adds another 17 miles to your commute: You can't get unemployment compensation if you quit over the issue.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals today overturned an unemployment law judge's ruling that a Good Thunder woman, who already had a 170-mile daily commute to her office in Bloomington , is not entitled to unemployment compensation because her company moved 17 miles farther to St. Paul.

Under Minnesota law, an employee who quits isn't eligible for unemployment unless the employer does something "that would compel an average, reasonable worker to quit and become unemployed rather than remaining in the employment."

But the court said transportation to and from work "was ultimately her responsibility, not the employer's." It said Sara Werner "created the commuting condition that contributed to the increased time and expense by choosing to reside in Good Thunder."