Joseph, Babener & Carpenter v. Employment Division

Petitioner seeks review of an Employment Division referee’s decision that it was not entitled to assume the favorable employment tax experience rating of its predecessor.

We take the facts from the referee’s findings, which are undisputed. On January 1, 1986, Robert McMenamin withdrew from the law partnership of McMenamin, Joseph, Babener & Carpenter, and became “of counsel” to the firm. He set up his own law practice, took with him the business of his biggest client and other client files, all of which amounted to less than 5 percent of the firm’s business, and also took two employes, his…