Fitzhugh v. New Mexico Dept. of Labor, Employment Sec. Div.
| Decision Date | 18 July 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 22172,22172 |
| Citation | 1996 NMSC 44,122 N.M. 173,922 P.2d 555 |
| Parties | Christine R. FITZHUGH, Petitioner-Appellant, v. NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DIVISION, and Prudential Insurance Company, Respondents-Appellees. |
| Court | New Mexico Supreme Court |
Christine R. Fitzhugh applied for, and was denied, unemployment compensation. She appealed to the Appeals Bureau of the Department of Labor, Employment Security Division (Department). The Department affirmed the denial of benefits, concluding Fitzhugh voluntarily abandoned her job. She then filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari seeking judicial review of the administrative decision in district court. The court affirmed the denial of Fitzhugh's unemployment benefits. However, the court rejected the Department's conclusion that Fitzhugh had voluntarily quit her job, and concluded instead that she was justifiably terminated for misconduct. We originally affirmed the trial court's determination. However, upon Fitzhugh's motion for rehearing, we have concluded that the findings of both the Department and the trial court are not supported by law or by substantial evidence. We therefore reverse and direct that Fitzhugh be awarded unemployment benefits.
In October 1990, Fitzhugh began working at the Albuquerque office of the Prudential Insurance Company, having transferred from Prudential's San Diego office. Her excellence as an employee resulted in several promotions. However, within less than a year of her transfer, Fitzhugh was incapacitated by a severe emotional breakdown.
Among the first outward indications of Fitzhugh's unhappiness was a written formal complaint against a co-worker filed with the management of the Albuquerque office. In August 1992, Fitzhugh submitted the first of several requests that she be transferred to Prudential's Atlanta office. It was also in August 1992 that the physical symptoms of Fitzhugh's distress became apparent. She experienced headaches, gastrointestinal pain, anxiety, sleep disorders, and depression. On the job, her work began to backlog, she was unresponsive when spoken to, and she exhibited open hostility toward co-workers and supervisors.
Fitzhugh first sought medical help on October 7, 1992, from Dr. Joy Lovette. In medical reports and in her testimony Dr. Lovette noted Fitzhugh's feelings of depression, victimization, isolation, and hopelessness.
On October 19, 1992, the Albuquerque office manager, Janice Gallimore, met with Fitzhugh. She notified Fitzhugh that she was disruptive to working relationships in the office and that if she did not improve she may be subject to disciplinary action.
Fitzhugh, at the recommendation of Dr. Lovette, took off from work from Tuesday, October 20 through Friday October 23, 1992. The following Monday, October 26, 1992, Fitzhugh returned to the office. However, she left early, suffering from stomach pains, a headache, and a "dazed" feeling. Fitzhugh called in sick the next four days, Tuesday, October 27 through Friday, October 30, 1992.
At some point between October 26 and 30, Fitzhugh informed her immediate supervisor, Judy Morris, of the extended nature of her illness. She asked Morris for assistance in applying for workers' compensation benefits. This claim was ultimately denied.
At the same time, Fitzhugh asked Morris to provide the application forms for a short-term disability program offered by Prudential. Employees who are absent from work for more than four days are required to apply for this program. These disability claims are processed by a special office--or "unit"--located in New Jersey. For the sake of confidentiality, the unit that evaluates disability claims is kept isolated from other units in the Prudential company. For this reason, the Human Resources unit, which handles other personnel matters such as termination of employment, is separately located in California.
When Fitzhugh called in sick on Friday, October 30, 1992, the fourth day after her ill-fated attempt to return to work, Morris warned Fitzhugh concerning her excessive absenteeism. She informed Fitzhugh that she may be placed on "final warning" status if she were absent even a few more days. This was apparently an allusion to a formal system of discipline established by Prudential to address employee problems, in which a "final warning" was one step in a series that ended with the employee's discharge. Fitzhugh told Morris she did not know when she would be returning to work. This conversation was the last time Fitzhugh had any direct contact with her Albuquerque supervisors.
Gallimore and Morris both testified that Prudential requires an employee who must be absent from work to notify his or her supervisor of the absence on a daily basis. They claimed that this rule applies even if the employee is absent pending action on a disability or workers' compensation application. They asserted that this rule is waived only if the employee provides a note from a physician indicating the length of absence. Fitzhugh testified that she had no knowledge of this policy. Morris testified that she never warned Fitzhugh about this policy but that it could be found in the company's employee guide.
On November 9, 1992, Fitzhugh apparently received a phone call from Ginny Ordesch, who worked for Prudential's Human Resources unit in California. That unit was in charge of hiring and firing employees for the Albuquerque office. Additionally, though Human Resources did not process disability claims, it did set the deadlines for their submission. Ordesch told Fitzhugh that her short-term disability application must be submitted to the New Jersey unit by November 24.
The short-term disability application required the submission of an "Attending Physician's Statement." Dr. Lovette completed and returned this statement to Fitzhugh on November 12, 1992. In the statement Lovette indicated that Fitzhugh would be unable to work for an "uncertain" period of time, noting that "she will need to have job transfer or some assurance from employer that things will change."
Sometime around November 14, 1992, Fitzhugh mailed the completed short-term disability claim to New Jersey. A return mail receipt showed that the New Jersey unit received the claim by the November 24 deadline.
Fitzhugh claims she made a telephone call to Ordesch at Prudential's California office on December 1, 1992, more than one month after she last spoke to the Albuquerque office. Apparently Ordesch said she was in the process of preparing a letter terminating Fitzhugh's employment, in part because Fitzhugh had not worked for more than a month. Fitzhugh claims she offered to return to work immediately to preserve her employment but Ordesch refused.
Fitzhugh received the letter of termination on December 7, 1992. The letter stated:
Since you have not reported to work since October 26, 1992 ... we interpret this as resignation of your employment and are terminating your services accordingly. This is effective October 26, 1992, the last day you worked.... Should you have any additional evidence to support your absence, please let us know.
The following day, December 8, 1992, Fitzhugh received a letter from the New Jersey office notifying her of the denial of her short-term disability claim. In contradiction to the letter from California, this letter from New Jersey stated, "We have advised Human Resources of our decision and you should make arrangements to return to work."
On December 11, 1992, Fitzhugh filed a claim for unemployment compensation. On December 29, 1992, the unemployment pre-hearing claims examiner disqualified Fitzhugh from receiving benefits. The examiner determined that Fitzhugh voluntarily quit her job because she thought the work was detrimental to her health, and that such leaving did "not constitute good cause connected with the work." The absence of good cause rendered Fitzhugh ineligible for unemployment compensation.
Fitzhugh filed an appeal to this determination. On February 16, 1993, an administrative hearing on Fitzhugh's claim was held before the Appeals Bureau of the Department. The Appeals Bureau affirmed the denial of Fitzhugh's unemployment benefits, concluding that Fitzhugh voluntarily abandoned her job. The hearing examiner found that
the claimant, shortly after receiving the termination letter, received a letter denying her claim for disability payments and telling her, "We have advised Human Resources of our decision and you should make arrangements to return to work." ... At that point, the claimant abandoned the job by failing to respond to this invitation in any way, either by reporting to work, requesting leave of absence, or following up on her pending request for transfer.
Fitzhugh appealed this decision to the Secretary of Labor where it was once again affirmed.
Fitzhugh filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari seeking judicial review in district court of the administrative decision. In its March 1, 1994 decision, the district court rejected the Department's conclusion that Fitzhugh had voluntarily quit her job. The court found instead that Fitzhugh failed to comply with Prudential's "company policy requiring daily or other communication during a long-term absence." The court concluded that Prudential justifiably terminated Fitzhugh for misconduct.
Fitzhugh filed an appeal with this Court. We disagree with the decisions of both the Department and the district court. We reverse and direct that unemployment benefits be awarded to Fitzhugh.
The district court limited its review of the administrative determination to evidence that was presented to the Appeals Bureau. Similarly, the evidentiary record before us consists entirely...
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