Lapham v. Commonwealth Unemployment Compensation Board of Review,

An employee who suffered from chronic bronchitis due to exposure to cigarette smoke was relocated to an area 10 to 15 feet from a heavy smoker and 20 feet from a second smoker. The employee resigned and applied for unemployment insurance benefits.  The Unemployment Compensation Board of Review ruled that there was no “necessitous and compelling cause” for her resignation and therefore reversed a referee’s decision granting her the benefits.  On appeal, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reversed the Board’s decision and ruled that the employer’s relocation of the employee so close to the smokers was not a “reasonable accommodation” to her and that her resignation was for a necessitous and compelling cause and that she was thus entitled to unemployment compensation.

103 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 144, 519 A.2d 1101 (Pa.Cmnwlth., 1987), appeal denied, 515 Pa. 611, 529 A.2d 1084 (1987).