Roccograndi v. Unemployment Comp. Bd. of Review

Three family members (plaintiffs), all officers and stockholders of their family business, were laid off in rotation whenever business slowed, based on votes taken among the officers about whose turn it was, and then filed claims for state unemployment benefits. The Bureau of Employment Security denied their claims, a referee reversed and awarded benefits, but the Board of Review (defendant) reversed again, finding the plaintiffs were really self-employed because, as officers, they had the power to vote themselves into and out of a layoff.