Bd. of Educ. v. Hill

• Docket Number: 24-ICA-266
• Decision Date: 06 June 2025
• Citation: Bd. of Educ. v. Hill, 24-ICA-266 (W. Va. ICA Jun 06, 2025)
• Parties: WYOMING COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, Employer Below, Petitioner v. CLISTY K. HILL, Claimant Below, Respondent And SCOTT A. ADKINS, in his capacity as ACTING COMMISSIONER of WORKFORCE WEST VIRGINIA, Respondent
• Court: West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals

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WYOMING COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, Employer Below, Petitioner v. CLISTY K. HILL, Claimant Below, Respondent And SCOTT A. ADKINS, in his capacity as ACTING COMMISSIONER of WORKFORCE WEST VIRGINIA, Respondent

No. 24-ICA-266

West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals

June 6, 2025

(WorkForce W.Va. Bd. of Rev. CaseNo. R-2024-0195).

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Wyoming County Board of Education("WCBOE") appeals the May 24, 2024, decision of the WorkForce West Virginia Board of Review("Board").Respondent Clisty Hill timely filed a response brief.^[1] WCBOE filed a reply.RespondentScott A. Adkins, Acting Commissioner of WorkForce West Virginia ("WorkForce") did not participate in this appeal.The issue on appeal is whether the Board erred in affirming the decision of the Board's administrative law judge ("ALJ"), which found that Ms. Hill was discharged but not for an act of misconduct, and in denying WCBOE's request for remand.

This Court has jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to West Virginia Code § 51-11-4(2024).After considering the parties' arguments, the record on appeal, and the applicable law, this Court finds that there is error in the lower tribunal's decision but no substantial question of law.For the reasons set forth below, the Board's decision is vacated, and this case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this decision pursuant to Rule 21 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Clisty Hill was employed as a teacher by WCBOE from May 15, 2001, to October 20, 2023.She worked full-time in an elementary school as a second-grade teacher in 2023.The child of the school's vice principal was a student in her second-grade class that year.Ms. Hill claimed that the vice principal's child physically assaulted her by repeatedly hitting her on the head on January 3, 2023, and January 4 2023.She claimed that the child was "a gymnast and plays sports" and was "very strong" and that she could not get the child to stop hitting her.She claimed that she was forced to defend herself on January 4, 2023 when she"paddled [the student] on the bottom with an open hand" to get her to stop.

On or about January 6, 2023, Ms. Hill was suspended by the WCBOE for violating state and local laws and WCBOE policy for her alleged misconduct in repeatedly striking the second-grade student.A WorkForce deputy's decision dated November 27, 2023, found that Ms. Hill quit her job without good cause involving fault on the part of the employer and disqualified her from receiving unemployment benefits.

On January 22, 2024, Ms. Hill appealed the deputy's decision.On February 9, 2024, the Board denied Ms. Hill's request to appeal the deputy's decision as untimely.WorkForce received a letter from Ms. Hill on February 15, 2024, which stated that she timely filed an original appeal, but never heard from WorkForce after the filing, and requested reconsideration of the denial of unemployment benefits because she was "attacked" by a second-grade child.WorkForce granted Ms. Hill's request for reconsideration and scheduled a hearing to determine whether she had good cause for filing the late appeal.

On March 26, 2024, a hearing was held before the ALJ regarding Ms. Hill's appeal of the deputy's decision.Ms. Hill appeared by telephone and WCBOE did not appear.Ms. Hill testified that she was given the option to resign or be terminated.Ms. Hill indicated that the child was "in 2nd grade at the time, and she is tall, and she is strong, and she was jumping up and hitting [her] in the head repeatedly."Additionally, Ms. Hill stated that she suffered concussion syndrome following these events.Ms. Hill stated that she"swatted" the child on the bottom and admitted that there was a policy against any kind of physical discipline of children.

The ALJ issued a decision dated April 9, 2024, which reversed the deputy's decision and found that Ms. Hill did not commit any acts of misconduct that led to her separation from employment.The ALJ found that on at least two occasions, which occurred on January 3, 2023, and January 4, 2023, the child assaulted Ms. Hill by jumping up from a ramp and hitting her repeatedly in the head.Further, the ALJ found that Ms. Hill sustained a concussion from these incidents and was later diagnosed with concussion syndrome due to the child's assaults.The ALJ found that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding of misconduct, and that WCBOE had not met its burden of proving misconduct.

On May 24, 2024, the Board issued a decision affirming the ALJ and adopting the ALJ's findings by reference in their entirety.The Board concluded...