Sprouse v. Mississippi Employment Sec. Com'n

• Decision Date: 23 June 1994
• Docket Number: No. 92-CC-01066,92-CC-01066
• Parties: Rayford SPROUSE v. MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 901

639 So.2d 901

Rayford SPROUSE v. MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION.

No. 92-CC-01066.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

June 23, 1994.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 4, 1994.

Edwin Woods, Central MS Legal Services, Vicksburg, for appellant.

Fred J. Lotterhos, Jr., Employment Security Commission, Jackson, for appellee.

Before DAN M. LEE, P.J., and McRAE and SMITH, JJ.

McRAE, Justice, for the Court:

Rayford C. Sprouse appeals the decision of the Attala County Circuit Court which upheld the finding of the Mississippi Employment Security Commission that he was not entitled to unemployment benefits. He raises the following issue:

The circuit court erred in affirming the Mississippi Employment Security Commission's We find that the circuit court erred in affirming the decision of Mississippi Employment Security Commission. Sprouse's actions did not constitute misconduct since they were neither willful and wanton nor culpably negligent; his acts were merely ordinary negligence. We reverse the circuit court's judgment, hold that Sprouse is eligible for unemployment compensation benefits and remand this cause to the Commission for further hearing consistent with this opinion.

denial of unemployment benefits based on the holding that Sprouse's actions constituted misconduct.

FACTS

Rayford Sprouse was employed as a fork lift operator for Jack Post Corporation approximately four years. The events which led to Sprouse's termination began on January 28, 1992, when he received a three day suspension due to his carelessness in operating a forklift which resulted in running over an employee's foot. The suspension notice indicated that if such carelessness should occur again, he would be terminated from his employment. On March 12, 1992, Sprouse, while operating the fork lift, again ran over the foot of another employee and was thereupon discharged.

Sprouse testified that after placing the materials that he was transporting in the proper place, he positioned the forklift in reverse. According to Sprouse, after checking and seeing no obstructions or persons in his path, he began to move backwards. After moving backwards about two feet, Sprouse heard someone scream. This person, Lawrence Rayford, was later treated for a sprained muscle in his foot. Sprouse testified that Rayford, for reasons unknown, had apparently bent down to shut off the forklift's fuel supply and it would have been impossible for anyone to see him in such a crouched position.

Sprouse applied for unemployment benefits, and on April 9, 1992, his initial claim was denied due to the fact that he was discharged for misconduct connected with his work. Sprouse filed his notice of appeal to the appeals referee on April 13, 1992. Sprouse and Jack Post Personnel Manager Denise Rigby appeared before the appeals referee and testified. The appeals referee reversed the decision of the claims examiner and held that Sprouse's actions did not rise to the level of misconduct as his actions were not a deliberate and wanton disregard of his employer's interests.

On May 19, 1992, Jack Post appealed to the Mississippi Employment Security Commission (hereinafter "MESC"). No additional hearings were conducted, and on July 9, 1992, MESC reversed the appeals referee's decision and reinstated the initial determination of the claims examiner. Sprouse appealed to the Attala County Circuit Court, and on August 31, 1992, the circuit court affirmed the decision of the commission. From that decision, Sprouse perfected this appeal.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Court's standard of review of an administrative agency's findings and decisions is well established. An agency's conclusions must remain undisturbed unless the agency's order 1) is not supported by substantial evidence, 2) is arbitrary or capricious, 3) is beyond the scope or power granted to the agency, or 4) violates one's constitutional rights. Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality v. Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors, 621 So.2d 1211, 1215 (Miss.1993); Mississippi Employment Security Commission v. PDN, Inc., 586 So.2d 838, 840 (Miss.1991). A rebuttable presumption exists in favor of the administrative agency, and the challenging party has the burden of proving otherwise. United Cement Company v. Safe Air for the Environment, 558 So.2d 840, 842 (Miss.1990). Lastly, this Court must not reweigh the facts of the case or insert its judgment for that of the agency. Mississippi Public Service Commission v. Merchants Truck Line, Inc., 598 So.2d 778, 782 (Miss.1992).

DISCUSSION OF LAW

DID THE CIRCUIT COURT ERR IN AFFIRMING THE MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION'S DENIAL OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS BASED ON THE HOLDING THAT SPROUSE'S ACTIONS CONSTITUTED MISCONDUCT?

The underlying purpose of implementing employment security law in Mississippi is to protect those workers not permitted to continue employment through no fault of their own. Mississippi Employment Security Commission v. Gaines, 580 So.2d 1230, 1234 (Miss.1991); Mississippi Employment Security Commission v. Fortenberry, 193 So.2d 142, 144 (Miss.1966). The burden of proving disqualifying misconduct by clear and convincing evidence rests with the employer. Gore v. Mississippi Employment Sec. Comm'n, 592 So.2d 1008, 1010 (Miss.1992). Mississippi Code Ann. Sec. 71-5-513 (1972) provides that an "individual shall be disqualified for benefits ... [if] he was discharged for misconduct with his work, if so found by the commission...." Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 71-5-513 (1972). Since the facts of the case at hand are not in dispute, the question to answer is whether Allen's actions, as a matter of law, can be considered misconduct under Mississippi's law.

The term misconduct as applied in Mississippi's unemployment law has been defined by this Court as "conduct evincing willful and wanton disregard of the employer's interest" not encompassing "[m]ere inefficiency [or] unsatisfactory conduct ... as a result of ... good faith errors in judgment or discretion ..." Wheeler v. Arriola, 408 So.2d 1381, 1383 (Miss.1982). See Booth v. Employment Sec. Comm'n, 588 So.2d 422, 425-26 (Miss.1991).

In Employment Sec. Comm'n v. Phillips, 562 So.2d 115 (Miss.1990), this Court addressed the question as to what constitutes misconduct and held:

The Legislature has afforded no definition of misconduct, although quite apparently the statute imports an objective standard. The end of law is individual and hence societal adherence to external standards. It follows that questioned acts must be judged by like standards, even where expressed in language so open textured as "misconduct connected with his work." We have fleshed out the term in a series of cases beginning with Wheeler v. Arriola, 408 So.2d 1381, 1383 (Miss.1982). See also Miss. Employment Sec. Commission v. McGlothin, 556 So.2d 324 (Miss.1990); Shannon Engineering and Construction v. Miss. Employment Sec. Commission, 549 So.2d 446 (Miss.1989); Piggly Wiggly v. Miss. Employment Sec. Commission, 465 So.2d 1062 (Miss.1985); Miss. Employment Sec. Commission v. Borden, Inc., 451 So.2d 222 (Miss.1984). Misconduct imports conduct that reasonable and fair-minded external...