Don S. Noble v. Honorable Ray Marshall, Secretary of Labor

The Secretary of Labor issued a decision which held that in calculating layoff benefits under § 207(a) of the Redwood National Park Expansion Act of 1978 (Act), 16 U.S.C. § 79b, appellant, Don S. Noble’s base period of eligibility would be that period during which he worked for Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, his last employer. The Secretary reversed an earlier ruling by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that Noble’s benefits under § 207(a) could be computed by looking to the hours worked for his employer, or to the hours worked for a previous employer, Redwood Construction Company (Redwood), because both companies were “affected employers” for whom he had worked within five years of enactment of the Act. Noble appeals. We affirm the decision of the Secretary.

I

The facts are not in dispute. On April 17, 1968, Noble was hired as a truck driver by Redwood, an affected employer within the meaning of the Redwood Act. He worked continuously for that company until April 23, 1976, when he took a similar but higher-paying job with Louisiana-Pacific, also an affected employer. He was laid off by Louisiana-Pacific on November 3, 1978, and soon thereafter sought benefits. As of March 27,…